Deadly Connections
by xSkeletalRemainsx
Summary: -A twisted form of the series, you've been warned- When a happy childhood becomes shattered and exposed to the cruelty of the real world, sometimes the one real love can be the slowest form of suicide.
1. The New Student

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Hello, residents of the Fanfiction community. I've finally gotten around to reworking on this fanfiction. I'm really happy to be working on it again and fixing the extremely major problems with the first version (plot gaps/plot changes/missing chapters/explanation problems/etc.). A lot of people have been asking me about the rewrite and I've decided that I've made them wait long enough. So, due to the recent events of my personal life, I've have been inspired to start the story again with a few more twists and things of that nature. My life has also given me quite a few ideas for the story. I hope that you all will enjoy the rewritten version of "Deadly Connections". On a side note, the reasons for Fanboy's depressed state will be explained in later chapters, so please save your questions until the end of the story.

**Chapter One: The New Student**

Neon streaks of vibrant green were scattered carelessly through the mop-top of raven hair. A pale, ghostly-white hand ran through the raven strands, contrasting against the color brilliantly. A heavy sigh escaped the pale, slightly chapped lips of the male who made the motions. His emerald eyes were closed loosely as he tossed his head back just slightly, letting his mind drift away into the lyrics of a song that played through the ear-buds of his music player.

He was just about to drift deeper into his mesmerized trance as the lyrics grew more dark and heavy, until he felt a sharp stabbing sensation against the back of his head. He jumped harshly, both startled and angered by the feeling. He quickly turned to the source, glaring at the snickering faces of his fellow classmates. Carefully, he bent over in his chair to retrieve the source of the blow, which was a tightly balled piece of notebook paper. Zack Smith, the seventeen-year-old who we've been speaking of, sighed harshly under his breath, already knowing something along the lines of what the note would say. Even with this knowledge, he unfolded the crumpled paper, his heavily rimmed with eyeliner eyes glaring at the words as he read them.

"_Dear Emo-Whore,_

_Go cut yourself and make us all happy_

_Signed,_

_The World."_

Zack, who preferred to be called Fanboy, stretched the paper in his pale hands, gaining paper cuts as he did so. Blood droplets gently stained the paper, soaking into the fibers, causing the mere drops to appear to be the size of small puddles. Feverishly, he crumpled the paper back up, throwing it into the crowd of grinning teens behind him.

"Eww, it has his blood on it!" A few students screeched, kicking the bloodstained paper about underneath their desks, soon turning it into a game.

"Goal!" A deep voice of a male classmate called as he managed to kick the paper underneath an air conditioning system that sat in the back of the classroom. "That's how it's done, Ladies."

Many of the girls in the class giggled and blushed as the male spoke and showed off his "soccer" skills. Duke, which was the freshly eighteen-year-old's name, smirked at them, winking at a few of the girls in which he took interest.

"Way to go, Bro," another male's voice stated, giving Duke a quick high-five as a group of other boys laughed.

Fanboy sunk down in his chair, pulling the hood of his fuzzy green sweater over his head. He growled roughly as he slammed his head on his desk. Just the voices of the fellow classmates felt like acid splashing against the nerves that ran through Fanboy's body. He hissed at the feeling as he began to feel physically ill. His stomach churned, but he swallowed hard to keep the bile down.

As the feeling slowly settled, he rummaged around through his backpack, which was carelessly thrown onto the floor next to his seat. He withdrew a raggedy black notebook, which was barely hanging onto its spirals. Papers were slowly beginning to break away from the spirals, causing Fanboy to have to straighten them back into place with pieces of duct tape. He opened the book, cringing at the smell of the past that was absorbed into the pages. The crunching sound of the book opening caught the unwanted attention of other classmates.

"Well, well, well," Duke, pushing his dirty blonde hair out of his face, spoke with a chuckle. "Off to write more "deep and dark" poetry there, Zack?"

"Shut. Up," Fanboy muttered, gripping a little tighter to the pencil in his hand, the wood threatening to snap. He refused to make eye contact with the taller male, who now stood in front of his desk. He kept his glare on the paper in front of him, words whipping around his head as if they were inside of a blender. "And never call me that again."

"Why not? That is your name, isn't it? Zack?"

Fanboy felt his body physically twitch with annoyance. He wanted to jump up from his desk and wrap his hands around Duke's throat, squeezing the life out of him and watching with a smile as the light left the pretty boy's eyes. But, alas, the raven-haired teen just sat there like a lump on a log, trying to shut out the world.

"Don't you have to get into some girl's pants or something?"

Duke gave off another stomach-churning chuckle, smirking slyly as he moved back to his own desk. He reached a hand over to ruffle the skirt of the girl sitting next to him, causing her to squeal lightly as her heart melted at the touch.

"At least I can get a girl," the eighteen-year-old beamed, keeping his eye contact on the girl sitting at the desk next to his own. He carefully ran a hand down her exposed thigh. "Isn't that right, Baby?"

The girl immediately went into a fit of over-joyful giggles, turning to her friends, who were also in the midst of their own giggling fits.

"Did you hear that, Duke called me _baby_!" The girl squealed, twirling her curly blonde hair between her fingers.

"It's not my fault you're a man-whore," Fanboy grumbled under his breath so he and his statement would go unnoticed. "At least if I find someone that loves me, they'll love me for me and not because I'm some pretty boy knock-off."

"Oh, yeah right. Nobody could love _you_," the voice of the blonde girl announced, giggling snootily as she looked at her fingernails, making sure the bright pink polish wasn't chipped. She smiled as she noticed the polish was still perfect.

The seventeen-year-old pulled the hood of his sweater even further down in front of his face, making it impossible to see the outside world as it hung in front of his eyes. He groaned lightly, trying to think of a comeback. Just as the words came to mind, he heard the door creak open and footsteps fill the air.

"Okay, all you hooligans sit down and shut up," the teacher's monotone voice announced as he moved over to his chair. He took a seat in said chair and picked up a few papers from the desk. "Alright, let's see. Exams, finals, grades, grades, more grades, gra- wait- this isn't a grading sheet. This is some sort of note."

The middle-aged man read over the note, his eyes narrowing more and more as he continued to read. Finally, he set the note, which was scrawled out on a tiny, yellow sticky note, down onto his desk. He groaned loudly and smacked his hand over his face.

"Another one?" Mr. Mufflin, the teacher, whined to himself, perking the class' interest. "Ugh, Class, today we're going to have a... bleh... a new student. You all know the rules by now. Be nice, show respect, no hurling spit balls at him when he walks in, blah, blah, blah."

Fanboy noticed the looks on the other student's faces turn into sinister expressions. This new kid was in for it, that much was obvious. The raven strands of the teen's hair bounced about lightly as he shook his head, letting off another sigh-like sound. He picked up his pencil and began to scrawl down words in his notepad, muttering to himself softly.

"Poor kid, he has no clue what he's getting himself into by coming to this hellhole."

* * *

><p>An anorexic-thin redhead slowly climbed out of a raggedy car, practically tripping out of said car as it gave a violent jump. It was obvious the engine was dying. The eighteen-year-old reached into the seat of the car once he was outside of it safely. He grabbed a thin stick and a rather thick, hardcover book, which seemed to have a hallow face etched into it.<p>

"Aye! Aren't you forgetting something, Kid?" A deep, raspy voice questioned angrily. The voice came from the man in the driver's seat. He quickly shot out a calloused hand, curving his fingers as a gesture.

"O-oh, right. Of course," Kyle, the redhead, muttered, growing flustered as he carefully moved his book under his arm. He rummaged around in his pockets, finding nothing. He fretted slightly, growing nervous as he began to whisper to himself. "Oh, please, let me have enough magic left for just this one thing."

The wizard gripped onto the stick in his hand tighter, focusing hard on the image of money in his head. He knew his magic was weak and he knew that if this worked, he probably wouldn't have his magic restored for a year. However, this was the only way to save himself from the stranger in the driver's seat. Luckily, the wand sparked, causing the redhead to smile. The smile grew as he felt the texture of money float delicately into his hand.

"Hurry up! I don't have all day!"

"Okay, okay! Here!" Kyle snapped, growing impatient with the man he didn't even know. He shoved the money, a total of twenty dollars, into the man's large hand. "Thanks again for the ride. I really appreciate it."

The man grunted, shoving the money into the glove-box of his car, which he was barely able to get closed.

"Yeah, you're just lucky I'm not one of those creeps that go around abducting and raping children."

Before Kyle could reply to the statement, the man took off out of the school's parking lot. The wizard was slightly stunned by the man's words, sighing as pain from the past filled his mind. However, he managed to shrug off the thoughts and focus on the situation at hand.

"Alright, Kyle, you can do this. Surely it can't be as much of a hellhole as the wizarding academy. C-could it?" The eighteen-year-old tried to reassure himself as he shook nervously. He clutched his wand tighter until his knuckles turned a pale shade of white and he hugged his Necronomicon to his chest.

He walked forward, forcing a confident, snooty smile as he pushed the double-doors open with his hipbone. He waltzed into the empty hallway, putting a slight swish into his walk, trying his best to appear confident and in charge. Every couple of seconds he would look down to a tiny sticky note attached to the cover of his Necronomicon then looked back up to the numbers above the classrooms' doors.

"One-hundred and four. Th-this is it," Kyle whispered, his confidence fading and his shaking growing more feverish. He reached out for the door handle briefly before pulling his hand back and setting his items down on the floor next to him.

Quickly, he conjured a mirror on the wall next to the door, looking around to make sure no one was viewing him. He looked into the full-length mirror, examining his body carefully. He ran his hands over the slight curves in his waist, much as a female would do when they tried on a new dress. He sighed heavily as he tugged down the yellow collar around his neck, revealing a deep slash that consumed his entire neck. The yellow turtleneck tube-top he wore was hidden by a small burgundy shirt, which hardly covered his slender stomach and the sleeves of said shirt hung off of his shoulders. With gentle, frail hands, he smoothed out his tight jeans, which were filled with rips around the thigh and knee areas.

"Well," he muttered, fixing his hair into place, giving his reflection a weak smile. He used the rest of his magic to force the mirror to vanish into thin air. He was drained magically, noticing his wand becoming more fragile as it threatened to snap in half when he picked it up from the ground. "I suppose I'm presentable enough."

Kyle gathered his items from the floor and once again reached out for the doorknob. He turned it slowly, peering into the classroom with a single golden eye. He gulped harshly, shivering with nervousness as he looked at all the other classmates, the boys in particular. Kyle shrunk back, everybody looked so intimidating. Everybody, except for the boy in the green sweater, which was decorated with a small purple face, a dead face with a stitched mouth. Without reason, the sight of the frail looking male gave the wizard a bit of security and confidence.

"Mr. Masters?" Mr. Mufflin inquired, noticing the door cracked open as many students pointed to it. The redhead gulped harshly, it was now or never. He walked into the classroom shyly, his pale, freckled face sprawled over by a deep blush. He nodded at the teacher before turning to the class.

"Um, h-hello," Kyle mumbled quietly, nearly choking on his words. His British accent made itself appear thicker as nerves took over his entire body.

Suddenly, an uproar of laughter broke out among the once silent classroom. Many girls giggled shrilly and started shouting out make-up tips and tips on the latest hairstyles, while the guys cackled and made false whistling sounds.

"Whoo! Somebody give me a dollar," Duke demanded, looking around at the confused faces of the people that were staring at him.

"Uh, why, Dude?" One of Duke's closest friends questioned, roaming around in his pocket and handing a dollar to Duke, who gave off an annoyed look.

"It was a joke, Man. I was just going to put it in our new stripper's pants, is all."

"Oh," the other male stated, slowly shoving the dollar back into his pocket. He looked rather annoyed and confused for a moment before two-and-two clicked together within his brain. He soon began to chuckle along with the rest of his classmates. "Good one."

"I knew it," Fanboy muttered, pushing his neon green and raven hair out of his face to get a better look at the new student. "Jeez, what kind of slut did they drag in here this time?"

Both anger and pain coursed through Kyle's body, causing him to twitch lightly. He wanted to tell the other students off, but was interrupted before he could even attempt to do so.

"Hey, you little monsters, calm down! Mr. Masters, sit wherever you want, I really don't care."

With a small growl from the back of his throat, Kyle nodded, looking over the classroom with his bright, golden eyes. A small smile arrived to his face as he noticed the only empty desk was next to the boy he had saw from the doorway. However, he couldn't act as though he was happy. He had to be tough this time, he had to make sure he wouldn't be bully-bait at this school like at his old academy. He forced a scowl as he walked over to the desk, his hips swishing lightly, provoking more laughter from the other teens around him.

The wizard flinched roughly as the cold metal grazed against the exposed flesh of his back. He blushed deeply with embarrassment as the laughter grew louder. He looked around the room with an angry pout, his eyes catching the stare of Fanboy.

"What are _you_ staring at?"

"So," the seventeen-year-old sneered, his eyeliner making his emerald orbs shine brighter. "You're the new kid, huh?"

"Look," the redhead grumbled, glaring at the one who seemed to make his heart flutter. "If you're going to call me a whore or tell me to go fuck myself, then you can save it. I got enough of that at the wizarding academy. I didn't take it from those twits and I am most certainly not taking it from you. Do I make myself clear?"

Anger boiled up in Fanboy's veins. He felt slightly appalled at how the new student had jumped down his throat. He tapped his pencil onto his paper, causing unintentional scratches on the once clean paper.

"I just asked you a question! You don't have to be such bitch about it!"

"Zack!" Mr. Mufflin called, scowling lightly as his eyes fell upon the dark-haired teen. "Do I have to assign you another detention this week?"

The green-eyed teen sunk down in his desk at the sound of his real name being said aloud for the whole class to hear. He growled lightly and looked over to the redhead, who was holding a slight smirk.

"So, you're name is Zack, is it?"

"Shut up! Don't ever call me that! Ever!"

"Zack!" The teacher warned sternly, slamming his hands onto his desk. He was about to enter a long rant about making outbursts in his classroom, but was interrupted by the blaring sound of the school's lunch bell. He jumped slightly as the sound pounded against his eardrums, giving him a small shock of fright. "Ugh, everyone go to lunch. Oh, Zack, you're in charge of showing Mr. Masters around the school."

"Wha-what? Me? Can't you get someone else to do it?"

"No, now go."

Fanboy grumbled lightly, cursing the teacher under his breath as he stood up from his desk. He slammed his notebook shut roughly to express his anger, a few of the pages breaking free and floating onto the floor. The raven-haired teen sighed at this, but decided to leave the papers be on the floor.

"Come on, whateveryournameis," Fanboy demanded through gritted teeth, grabbing onto the fragile boy's pale wrist, pulling the redhead out of his seat. "If you're going to follow me, you're going to keep up with the pace."

"Ow!" Kyle exclaimed, feeling one of the bruises on his wrist being placed under such pressure. "That hurts, you numskull."

"Oh, quit your whining. We're going to be late for lunch."


	2. The Darkest Hallway

"**Deadly Connections."**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Hello, Fanfiction community. I am returning with another chapter for you all. Sorry for not updating in a while. My computer is making it very difficult to write, considering I have huge cracks in the middle and sides of my screen. It won't be long before I can't use this computer at all. No worries, I'm getting a new one sometime this month. I hope that you all enjoyed chapter one and will enjoy this chapter just as much, if not more. Thank you all for your support/reviews/favorites/etc. I apologize in advance for any typos. Enjoy. Again, things will be explained in later chapters. This is an alternate, twisted version of the series. I've seen plenty of people twist them to be unhappy and get positive feedback, so I will not settle with being the only one getting flames for twisting them.

**Chapter Two: The Darkest Hallway**

The hallway was filled with students, all of them bunched together like sardines in a can. Amongst the girls with heavily made-up faces and boys with their pants half way down, were two teens that stood out like sore thumbs.

Fanboy tried to keep to himself, tugging the strings that dangled from the neck area of his sweater to tighten the hood around his face. He wanted to blend into the walls as much as he possibly could as he watched the other students rush past him. He growled lightly as he looked over his shoulder, noticing the redhead, tag-along staring off into space, frozen in the middle of the hallway.

"Would you come on already?" Fanboy shouted in a whisper, turning to face the direction of the wizard. His black, converse sneakers clacked against the floor as he forcefully stomped through the crowd of students.

"Ew, don't let it touch you!" A girl squeaked shrilly as Fanboy moved passed her, her arms hooked securely around Duke's neck. She smiled up at him, causing him to smirk back at her. She melted into his arms, giggling furiously with a deep blush sprawled over her concealer-smeared face. Fanboy simply rolled his eyes at this and continued on his path toward the redhead.

Roughly, the raven-haired teen grabbed onto the frail, boney shoulder of Kyle, yanking harshly to force the freckle-faced teen to face him. The redhead shot a glare of deadly acid toward the slightly taller male, hissing softly as one of the bruises that he kept hidden from the world filled with the stinging sensation of a thousand, blazing knives.

"Get your hands off of me!" Kyle snapped violently in the middle of the hallway, causing many of the students to stare as his shrill cry of anger sounded. His fragile arm flung up reflexively, swatting Fanboy's pale, spidery hand away. "You do _not_have permission to touch me, nor will you ever!"

The bright emerald eyes of Fanboy grew wide, a small fire igniting behind the pupils, burning in the depths of his soul. This was the last thing he needed after the rough start of the morning. He bit his tongue, both metaphorically and physically, hissing a bit as his fresh tongue piercing sent a shock-wave of pain through the muscle.

"Uh-oh," a small chuckle came, a sneering voice invading the cool air of the school. Fanboy and Kyle's expressions quickly escalated deeper into anger, only this time, the anger was directed toward the voice and not toward each other. They snapped their necks to face the sound of the voice. "Looks like we've got a lovers' spat on our hands. Well, I think it's time for you two to kiss and make up."

"Duke, I swear to Go-" Fanboy began before quickly being silenced by the dirty-blonde, eighteen-year-old stepping forward, moving his hands to the back of his and Kyle's skulls, smashing the two boy's foreheads together, causing the injured two to protest with disgruntle mumbles. An uproar of laughter from the crowd that had gathered around him seemed to cause pools of blood to form in Fanboy's ears. The seventeen-year-old began to feel sick to his stomach, his mind churned, and his throat felt as though it was closing, wringing the life out of him.

"Aw, Zack, you missed your boyfriend's lips. Not a very good way to get into his pants, although," Duke began with a sinister chuckle, looking over the wizard's body, observing the clothing and curvy frame. "How hard can it be to get into this whore's pants?"

Anger and anguish shot through-out Kyle's overly-thin and overly-exposed body like a bullet through the brain. Every nerve is his body was set on fire as visions from the past haunted him in that moment. He swiftly twisted his body; knocking shoulders with the bully in order to push passed him.

Fanboy's pale hands balled into fists, his sharp knuckles making themselves turn a shade of ghostly, deathly white. He ignored the pain of his fingernails sinking into the palms of his hands, almost enjoying the pain, feeling as though it added to the moment. He hissed, ready to begin a fight, drawing his fist back and taking aim at Duke's flawless face.

"Zackary Smith! You know the rules about fighti- hey, where's that new kid? You're supposed to be looking after him," Mr. Mufflin's voice angrily spat, managing to grab hold of the raven-haired teen's fist before it could propel forward.

"B-but, Duke was the one who started it. He always starts it and then acts like some fucking princess whenever you come around."

"Zack, Zack, Zack," the eighteen-year-old smirked, his gang of buddies and potential girlfriends surrounding him, willing to back-up whatever lie he may tell the teacher. Willing to do anything to make it seem that Fanboy was at fault. "Must we really resort to name calling? It's not very mature. We're in high school now; it's time to be a big boy."

"You have got to be fuc-"

Mr. Mufflin shot a stern glare at the two teens, holding tighter on the fist as he felt it twitch with rage.

"Zack, watch your mouth and go find the new student before he gets himself lost or hurt. I can't handle another lawsuit this year. The rest of you, get your sorry butts to lunch."

Slowly, the crowd dispersed, forming into small groups as they walked casually toward the cafeteria. Fanboy's hand fell to his sides, his fists slowly relaxing and releasing themselves, as Mr. Mufflin let go of his fist and began to head back to his classroom, muttering curses toward his students under his breath.

Duke ran a hand carefully over Fanboy's shoulders, leaning into the shorter male's ear, making his voice an evil whisper.

"Aw, did I hurt the poor, little emo's feelings?"

With a laugh, the eighteen-year-old darted toward the cafeteria, waving tauntingly at Fanboy as he did so. This infuriated the only boy who was left standing in the hallway. He looked in the opposite direction of the cafeteria, which happened to be the same direction that the redhead had taken earlier. He groaned heavily, feeling the three-letter word that was previously mentioned etch itself deeper into his brain, engraving itself into his thought process.

"Ngh, great, I have no idea where the little bitch went."

* * *

><p>"Oh, come now, Necronomicon, there has to be a way to regain my magic. I used the rest of it to pay that man for the ride to this... this... horrid place."<p>

"Now, now, Boy. I do believe the last thing you used your magic on was that mirror. Vanity is a horrible thing," The hallowed mouth of the book droned out, blandly pointing out the fact.

"Well, pardon me for trying to make sure I looked presentable. I do have a reputation to uphold."

"You lost your reputation long ago, young master," Necronomicon stated, once again pointing out the flaw in Kyle's wording. The wizard furrowed his brows, until he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the hallway he was in; he scooted further behind the lockers, slamming the thick book face-down onto the ground, attempting to shut it up.

"Keep your folio shut," Kyle shouted in a sharp whisper, pulling his knees to his chest so his legs wouldn't be seen. "The last thing I need is another man shoving hi-"

"Where is he? Mr. Mufflin will kill me if I lost him and the school gets sued," the pale-faced teen sighed, shrugging his shoulders just a bit. "I guess it could be worse. He might _not_kill me."

The teen, whose clothes resembled that of a stripper's, sighed softly with relief, his body relaxing itself slightly at the sound of the familiar voice. He jumped as he heard the clanking sound of his metal bracelet clashing against the floor beneath him.

"Crap," the wizard muttered, holding his wrist to his chest tightening the grip on the bracelet to keep it as still as possible. He glared at the shiny bracelet with just as shiny golden eyes, whispering to the inanimate object. "Quiet, you."

Fanboy tapped his foot on the ground as he crossed his arms, standing in front of Kyle with a disapproving expression. He cleared his throat as he stepped closer, trying to gain Kyle's attention.

"What's your problem?" The taller of the two spoke, letting his eyeliner-rimmed eyes wander upon the redhead's face, which was now facing him with wide eyes. "You can't just run off like that. You almost cost me another detention."

"Oh no, not a detention!" Kyle sarcastically whined, placing his hands to his face. "Why, they might force you to stay an hour after class. The world is surely coming to an end."

The emerald-eyed boy snarled softly, shaking his head in aggravation. He looked around the dark hallway, the only source of light coming from a dim bulb overhead. Fanboy took in the surroundings, shuddering as the past washed up when he noticed how familiar the sights were to him.

* * *

><p>"<em>No! No! Please... J-just stop it!" A fourteen-year-old Zack Smith, who we'll call Fanboy for the time being, cried out, feeling tears form in the corners of his eyes, the tears causing their emerald color to stand out intensely. His brows curved, showing more fear as he felt the ropes around his hands slicing into his sensitive flesh, creating severe rope burns as he struggled.<em>

A dirty-blond boy chuckled, his voice crackling with puberty as he did so. The blue-eyed boy snapped his fingers, the two boys standing behind him snapping ropes in their hands.

_"Chuggy, Cheech, tie up his feet," Duke instructed, Fanboy's eyes widening more as he began to kick his legs out of reflex. "I'll go get the sharpies."_

_"Sure thing, Duke," Cheech smirked, pushing some of his dark brunette locks out of his eyes, approaching the younger teen. He quickly dodged a kick to the face as the restrained boy squirmed and kicked, his fingers clawing at the air as he hands hung in suspension, his wrists being tied to two hooks in the wall, holding him in place. "Hey, Chuggy, give me some help and hold him down. Zacky's getting a little restless."_

_"S-stop calling me that!" The raven-haired boy, who lacked the green highlights in his hair at the time, shouted with fear and slight anger, his voice shaking harshly as his body did the same. He quickly bit down on his lower lip, wishing he hadn't said a word. Eyeliner slowly began to trickle down Fanboy's reddened face as the tears began to fall and loosen the makeup._

_Chuggy nodded with a small smirk and an unintelligible grunt as a response to his partner in crime. He leaned over Fanboy's much smaller body, snapping the rope in front of the fourteen-year-old's wide and shaking eyes, more tears streaming from them as Fanboy snapped them shut, cringing at the sound of the rope. The carrot-topped teen pulled back, moving his massive hands to Fanboy's restless, slender legs, holding them down in a death-lock grip to the floor._

_"Good job, Chuggy," Cheech rewarded the older one with the words of encouragement. The brunette knelt onto his knees, taking a paranoid look around the pitch black hallway, making sure no teachers were making their rounds. A smirk and a chuckle escaped him as he noticed no one was there to interrupt his mission._

_The emerald-eyed teen struggled in the grip, biting on his lower lip to avoid the whimpers of fear that longed to escape him. He squirmed lightly, twisting his hips in a futile attempt to set himself free. He didn't want to come off as pathetic, but as much as he was squirming, crying, and making an utter fool out of himself, he figured that his dignity was already long gone. He took in a silent breath, holding it in to build up his voice._

_"H-Help! Help! Please!" He bellowed, using all of the breath he had taken in and then some, trembling slightly. Cheech and Chuggy's eyes grew wide at the sudden sound of the boy's distressed screams. This, unfortunately for Fanboy, drew the attention of Duke, who was currently rummaging through an abandoned locker for his stash of sharpie markers, duct tape, and ropes, all of which were__used to threaten and torment Fanboy on a daily basis._

_The baby-blue eyes of the fifteen-year-old narrowed as he walked over to the scene, a box of sharpies and duct tape tucked securely under his arm._

_"Cheech, hurry up and finish tying him up."_

_"Will do," the brunette saluted, tying a rope to each one of Fanboy's frail, thin ankles, tugging on them harshly to tighten the grip of the rope and tying them to the locks of old and forgotten lockers. Fanboy let out a helpless yelp and whimper at the burning sensation that suddenly shot through his body, his back arching off of the floor. He gasped lightly as he felt his chin being firmly grabbed and his head roughly snapped to the side._

_"Shut up, Zack. Honestly, you should know that you deserve way worse than this by now. We're letting you off easy," Duke gripped tighter on the boy's chin, feeling one of Fanboy's tears make contact with his wrist. He smirked sadistically at this, causing Fanboy to open his mouth to protest. However, his attempt was cut short by a sudden smacking across his mouth._

_"Mmpfh? Mmmhpffh!" The fourteen-year-old struggled to speak, taking a moment to realize that his mouth had been covered by a thick, heavy-duty strip of duct tape. His wrists and feet squirmed in the confines of the ropes as his face turned a deep red from his uncontrollable tears._

_"He's all tied up, Dude. What do we do now?"_

_"Heh, you guys have done your job. Here," Duke stated, reaching into his pocket and handing both Chuggy and Cheech a pack of bubble gum. "Something for your hard work. You two can go to lunch now, I'll handle our little emo from here."_

_Cheech and Chuggy gave their honorable thanks in the form of a nod and salute. They tucked their packages of gum into their pockets and exited the scene, leaving the other two teens alone in the dark, abandoned part of the school._

_"Nghh! Mnpffh!"_

_"Hush now," the dirty-blond boy spoke softly, removing a small pocket knife from the box. "Emos aren't meant to talk. And that's all you are, Zack, a sick, disgusting, little emo."_

_In survival mode, Fanboy carefully bubbled his saliva behind the tape, trying to loosen it, managing to get enough of the adhesive off for the tape to slide down and hang from his chin._

_"I. Am. Not. Emo!" The youngster exclaimed, his eyes stinging and going a bright__shade of red from both the eyeliner and tears. "And don't call me Za-"_

_Fanboy was instantly cut off by the sound of tearing. His eyes darted about the dark hallway until he managed to find the source of the sound. His eyes closed tightly for a moment before refocusing on the direction of the sound._

_"Oh really, then where did these come from?" Duke sneered with a devilish small as his pocket knife sliced the last stitch of Fanboy's dark green, hooded sweater. He quickly reached into the box next to him, opening the cap of a sharpie marker, green being the choice for that day. He slowly and purposefully circled the many horizontal cuts that stretched along the younger teen's abdomen. "Did that mean, old cat get you again like you told Mr. Mufflin?"_

_"Ma-maybe. That's none of your dam-" more ripping filled the air, this time Fanboy's eyes shot wide open and blurred with tears. "Wha- What are you doing?"_

_The taller teen stayed silent as he sliced through the last few hems and threads of Fanboy's pants, tugging the article of clothing off, tossing the tattered remains aside. He chuckled as he circled a few more self-inflicted wounds on Fanboy's inner thighs._

_"Calm down, it's not like I'm going to rape you. That would be fucking disgusting. I'm just going to make sure that everyone in the school knows__**exactly**__what you are."_

_More tearing filled the air, this time it was Fanboy's undergarments that were torn from his body. At that moment, the fourteen-year-old's soul died with sheer fear, anger, and embarrassment. He knew that since the tape had fallen he could scream for help, however, Duke had a knife and Fanboy wasn't willing to risk it. If he was going to die anytime soon, it was going to be at his own hand._

_Minutes passed as slowly as years as Fanboy's petite, pale body was littered with graffiti. 'Zack'. 'Emo'. 'Fake'. 'Whore'. Those were just a few selective words that covered mostly every inch of his body. He lay there, still restrained by his ropes, looking over his body to see if he could see any sign of non-graffiti-ed flesh. A few seldom tears escaped his eyes as he silently cried to himself. He was alone, considering Duke had fled the scene as soon as he heard the footsteps of the janitor. He felt dead._

* * *

><p>"Come on," the seventeen-year-old instructed, controlling the tears that had formed in his eyes, managing to keep his mouth formed into a scowl instead of letting it slip into a pathetic frown. "You're going to get your tight pants wearing ass beat up if you stay here. This isn't the best part of the school."<p>

"Aha," Kyle chuckled, giving a cheeky smile as he lifted his now sleeping necronomicon from the floor, clutching it to his chest. "Look, I can fend for myself. I don't need you trying to save me like I'm some damsel in distress."

Fanboy's expression turned darker as the words rang through his ears. His eye gave a small twitch.

"Fine. You know what? Stay here. I have my own shit to worry about. But, if you get killed, just know that I tried to help you."


	3. Cafeteria Blunders

**"Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Finally! I'm so sorry for the long delay of updating you guys. Unfortunately, as some of you already know, I was having major computer troubles. During Hurricane Irene back in August, my old laptop got it's screen busted. I dropped a few encycolpedias on top of the closed lid durning the black out we experienced. I heard a faint cracking sound and I knew that my computer was history. Well, I finally managed to scrape up enough money to get a new laptop. Also, please keep in mind that this is an alternate form of the series, therefore many things are different and changed. However, some key factors will still remain from the series and such. Many questions will be answered durning the course of the upcoming chapters, so please save all questions until the end of the fanfiction. When this story comes to a close, I will be more than happy to reply to your questions. Also, if it's not too much trouble, could you leave your questions in private messages rather than reviews? It would be much appreciated. Whelp, I think this is a long enough note. And now, on with the story.

**Chapter Three: Cafeteria Blunders**

"As much as I would _love_ to join you," Kyle began to speak, his dull, British accent set ablaze with sarcasm. "I have a lot of catching up to do on my reading."

The redheaded child patted the oversized book with a fragile hand, his freckle-splattered face smiling sarcastically at the other standing before him. The sickeningly semi-sweet smile caused Fanboy's emerald eyes to close, rolling with angst and exhaustion behind the darkness of his eyelids. With his fingers massaging his temples and a sharp sigh, he opened his eyes to once again view Kyle, who had begun skimming through the pages of his necronomicon.

"Look, I know this place much, much better than you do. I've seen- I've _felt_- what happens in this hallway. If you stay here, you are going to be in some kind of troubl-"

"Why do you care?" The golden-eyed boy snapped, not even giving the other a chance to finish his sentence. "No matter what they could possibly do, I'm sure I've been through much worse before."

Fanboy gave a dry throat-laugh at a comeback that whipped into his overly-active mind. He moved a bit closer to the slightly shorter teen, reaching down to grab his small wrist.

"Oh, like what? Breaking a nail. Because I'm sure that would be a real tragedy for us all."

"You have _no_ clue what I've been through," Kyle nearly shouted in a mixed tone of anger, surprise, and disbelief. How could someone who didn't know a thing about him, act like they knew every intimate detail of his life? He quickly swatted at the hand the was clamped firmly around his wrist, trying to coax his captor to release him. "And what did I tell you about the touching?"

The raven-haired male opened his mouth to protest, planning to follow said protest with a complaint about how the other had no idea what _he_ had been through either. However, a putrid odor began to waft into his nose before he could manage to form words. He quickly yanked Kyle up from the floor by the wrist, hearing the bone crackle as he did this.

"Just come on, we have to get to lunch."

With a small yelp of pain from his wrist being yanked and the turtle-neck portion of his sleeveless sweater tightly held over his nose, Kyle began to follow Fanboy through the now empty and somewhat dimly lit hallway. The smell was growing more and more toxic as they continued to walk toward the double doors that would lead to the cafeteria's entrance, causing them both to tighten their sweaters over their mouths and noses.

"Lunch? Is that what that awful smell is? Our lunch?" The redhead whined, his voice slightly muffled by the fabric pressed over his mouth. He looked to the other's face, waiting for some type of response, managing to wriggle free from the tight grip Fanboy held over him. He watched intentively, sighing as the only response he got was a nod.

"Yeah, just don't actually eat anything," Fanboy stated after a few moments of silence, his heart dropping and his anxiety level growing as the approached the two doors that had tormented him since his freshmen year. He gulped lightly, shaking his head slightly as he tried to take a deep breath, the horrid smell coming from behind the doors preventing this action. His thoughts began to take over as his expression grew from his normally cool and angered face to one of worry and fear. As his mind was flung into a whirlwind, he didn't have time to notice that the slightly older teen was staring at him.

"Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" Came the taller one's reply, snapping out of his trance as he quickly looked to the wizard. Fanboy's insanely bright green eyes were the size of golf balls when their contact connected with Kyle's. The instance he noticed, Fanboy calmed his expression, forcing it back into its normal state. He shrugged with a small, dry chuckle, trying his best not to sound nervous. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't seem very fi-"

"I said I'm fine!" Fanboy snapped, shoving his hands into the pocket on the front of his faded-green sweatshirt. Despite the putrid odor, he drew in a deep breath in order to calm himself, coughing slightly as he felt the smell hit the back of his throat. "Let's just go, okay?"

"I was just trying to be nice," Kyle muttered angrily to himself as he folded his arms, moving closer to the two doors, leaning his body against the wooden surface. "Fine, I've got nothing better to do."

Just as he attempted to turn to face the door, the wizard's feet became tangled up in an untied shoe lace, causing his shoulder to press firmly against the silver handle of one of the doors. The large door flung open with force, threatening to crack the window as it smashed into it. The young wizard went tumbling to the floor with a loud and frightened 'oof'. His golden eyes resembled Fanboy's from earlier as they darted about the room, he felt his heart drop into his chruning stomach as he heard an uproar of laughter coming from a table of girls that was located directly next to the door.

"Oh, poor baby," one of the brunette girls giggled, pointing to a scared and slightly frustrated Kyle. "Hopefully he didn't injure anything he uses when he's on the pole."

Fanboy stood outside the door, frozen for a moment in the situation for a brief moment before smacking his hand over his face, shaking his head with a low grunt. He walked by the redhead, who for some reason was still sprawled out on the floor. The seventeen-year-old gave Kyle's hip a small kick to gain his attention, reaching his hand out toward the new student. Kyle quickly looked up, ready to snap at Fanboy about the kick until he noticed the spidery hand being held out to him. He smiled faintly, it fading as he grabbed onto the hand, feeling a death grip clamp down upon him once again.

* * *

><p>"So then I said-" a dirty blonde male chuckled as he reached the middle of his story about how his love life was going. He was about to continue until he felt a sharp elbow hit him in the ribs. His hands rapidly scrambled to the sorce of the pain and he gave a faint sound of anger. He turned to face the person who had gave him the pain, glaring at them intensely with his baby blues. "Cheech! What's your problem, man?"<p>

"Dude, look," Cheech chuckled, pointing over to Fanboy as he managed to help Kyle up from the floor. Duke's face lit up as he noticed his two main targets in such a vunerable position. He motioned his hand for his crew (which only included Cheech and Chuggy) to stand up and follow him over to the two targets.

"Well, aren't we being a fine gentlemen today, Zacky?" Duke chuckled, his blue eyes glimmering with satisfaction. It was like he got off on tormenting the younger and shorter male. "Helping your lady friend off the ground and all."

"Shut up, Duke," Fanboy muttered under his breath, trying his best to avoid another detention, knowing he'd be grounded and have to take summer school courses if he got another one. "And stop calling me that."

"And I am no lady," Kyle added rather boldly, looking around the cafeteria, glaring at the many children that were staring upon the scene.

"Stay out of it," the raven-haired male harshly whispered toward Kyle, the neon green streaks in his hair standing out more vividly under the cafeteria lights. His fists clenched tightly by his sides as he noticed Duke and his gang walking closer toward them.

"Box them in," Duke demanded of the other two boys, taking it upon himself to be the ring leader yet again. "We've got fresh meat today and it's time the new kid met the welcoming commity."

Kyle gulped lightly, tugging on the turtle-neck portion of his sweater once more. He chuckled nervously as the group boxed him and Fanboy into a tight circle.

"W-welcoming commity?" The scarlet-haired boy stuttered, adjusting the burgundy shirt that draped over his sleeveless yellow sweater. His knees slightly buckled, the rips in his jeans becoming more apparent as he moved. "What welcoming commity?"

Duke, Chuggy, and Cheech all bursted out in an uproar of laughter, causing a few kids sitting at nearby tables to giggle and chuckle under their breath. They all stepped closer, forcing Fanboy and Kyle's bodies together, making the situation more uncomfortable than it already had become. Duke smirked sadistically as he leaned into a fear-filled Kyle, his face only inches away from Kyle's.

"What's a pretty boy like you doing at a school like this?"

"Duke!"

Duke jumped, startled by the shrill voice that yelled from behind him. He felt a sharp, claw-like fingernail make contact with his shoulder, scratching it as it dragged up his neck and to his ear. A sensation of pain shot through the lobe of his ear as it was roughly tugged.

"Francine, what are you-" the blonde began until he noticed Cheech and Chuggy inching closer to Fanboy. The raven-haired male cowarded slightly as the two tormenters dangled multi-colored sharpie markers in front of his face. "Guys, back off. Code red."

"Code red? Is that what you're calling me now? Code red?" Francine hissed with anger, tugging rougher against Duke's ear, causing Chuggy and Cheech to laugh at their ring leader. They slowly backed away from Fanboy, causing the green-eyed teen to sigh with some relief.

"Francine, I have no idea what you're talking about," the blonde explained, growing annoyed with his whining girlfriend. He forced her to release the lobe of his ear, following her as she began to walk away from him. He was closely followed by his small gang. "Babe, wait, come back."

"No! We'll talk after school. Oh, you just wait until Daddy hears about what you did! He'll make you pay for cheating on me."

"No, wait, it doesn't have to come down to that, Sweetie. I'm sorry."

"Why don't you take that sorry and shove it up your ass?"

* * *

><p>As the tormenters and the young girl got farther away, their conversation slowly faded out of the air. Fanboy drew in a deep breath from the tension-filled air, trying not to choke as he did so. He sighed out the breath in relief, knowing the situation could have been a lot worse than it had been. All he could see were those sharpies dangling in his face and all he could feel was the cold metal of that old box cuter and the burns of past ropes.<p>

Kyle, too, was in a state of shocked relief. He shuddered at the words that Duke had spoke, thinking back to past events in his own life. He could feel hands trailing down his body and the cold cement from the past on his backside. He slowly looked over to Fanboy, who was staring off into space with the same expression from before they entered the cafeteria.

"W-who were they?"

"A bunch of douchebags," came Fanboy's dull reply as he looked down to the floor, turning around to leave the cafeteria. He walked slowly to the double doors, trying not to draw attention from any lunch ladies or authories that might be in the stuffy room. He opened the doors quickly, bolting away from them as they shut behind him, racing down the hallway toward the door leading to the outside of the school building.

"Hey!" The magical child declared as he watched the other bolt away through the window of the double doors. "You're supposed to be showing me around! I can't get back to class without you!"


	4. Bearing Scars

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing and updating. It's pretty difficult to do actually. I think I just have too many ideas for stories. I have many, many more stories planned out for when "Deadly Connections" is over and done, so I want to get this story over with rather quickly since it's been dragging on originally since 2009. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. I apologize in advance for any typos and such.

**Chapter Four: Bearing Scars**

Kyle gazed out the window of one of the doors inside the cafeteria, trying to retrace Fanboy's fast-paced steps in his mind. He pushed the silver handle of the door, this time very carefully and smoothly, to exit the cafeteria. He sighed lightly as his golden eyes looked around at the unfamiliar scenery, hoping he wouldn't get lost. His interest perked as he caught a glimpse of Fanboy's green highlights in the sun through the glass door that lead to the outside of the building. The highlights were a blur as Fanboy darted away from the door.

"There you are," Kyle muttered to himself, fixing his clothing back into a presentable fashion before walking at a fast pace toward the door. His eyes wandered about as he walked, observing lockers and bulletin boards covered with posters for lunches, public service announcements, and talent shows. He made sure his mind focused on the images to find his way back later.

He finally reached the door after a few quick paced steps, smiling bright with his crooked, braces-adorning teeth standing proud in said smile. He had finally reached his destination without any incident. He pushed against the chilled metal bar that would give him access to where his leader went and to walk out of the school building.

Fanboy panted heavily as he reached the woods behind the school building, leaning against a tall tree to catch his breath. He slid down the side of the tree, ignoring the sharp bits of bark that tried to tear at his flesh through the fabric of his sweatshirt. He felt a little at peace as his backside connected with the grass of the ground.

"At least now I can be alone and write in pea-" the raven-haired teen began to speak, searching the ground frantically with heavily-rimmed-with-eyeliner eyes. He patted the grass, flattening the unsuspecting blades down with the palm of his hand. A heavy sigh escaped his pale, dry lips. "I left my notebook in the classroom. Great, now Mr. Mufflin will probably read all of my poems and tell Oz. Then I'll have to start all over."

"Start what all over?" Kyle questioned in a soft voice as he stood next to Fanboy, the other teen jumping slightly at the sound of the voice. Fanboy quickly scrambled, trying to act as though he hadn't been startled. He looked to the wizard with half-lidded eyes as the sun beamed down over the figure of Kyle's body.

"I was kind of hoping I could be alone."

The redhead looked over Fanboy's posture before stepping over the taller teen's knees, sitting next to him against the tree. He looked back up to the others' face as they sat underneath the large tree, which proceeded to rain tiny leaves down upon them.

"Well, too bad. This place is all new to me. Without you, I won't be able to get back to class."

Fanboy gave a small scoff at the redhead's words, doubting the statement. His eyeliner-rimmed eyes wandered over to the other sitting next to him, looking over his expression. He sighed slightly as he looked back to the sky, noticing a few gray clouds beginning to roll in above them.

"It's going to rain."

"Well, then," Kyle began, beginning to think he could win this war that had been going on between him and the taller male for most of the day. "We should go back inside and get to class before the teacher discovers we're missing."

Fanboy sighed softly as he felt a raindrop fall onto his nose. He whipped it away with the sleeve of his sweater.

"I'd rather stay out in the rain," the raven-haired teen mutter with a dull tone of voice as he pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them with his arms lightly, looking from the sky to the ground beneath him.

The redhead scowled slightly and muttered a few profanities under his breath, worry over his grades slowly beginning to settle inside the pit of his stomach. He gave a harsh glare to Fanboy, moving a hand to the others' chin and forcing them to make eye contact.

"Don't you even care if the teacher gives us detention? Do you take any pride in your grades, whatsoever?"

Fanboy scoffed and let off a dry chuckle, looking into Kyle's eyes as a small smirk formed onto his lips.

"Teacher's pet, much?" The green-eyed teen questioned with another small chuckle. "Besides, I get detention pretty much everyday. Why should I start caring about it now?"

"Because, I've never had a detention in my entire life!"

Kyle scooted a little closer to Fanboy as the rain grew heavier, hitting and dropping from the leaves of the large tree and landing on the heads of the two boys. They both continued to sit in the rain, looking at everything except for each other. Fanboy pulled his hood over his head, tightening the strings that dangled around his neck in order to tighten the hood around his face, causing his hair to become messier than it previously had been.

"Hey, that's not my problem, Mr. Goody-Goody."

"Goody-Goody? Well, I know where I'm not wan-" the wizard began with a sharp scowl on his face, trying to hide the fact that he was growing curious by Fanboy's uncooperative behavior. He couldn't help but to wonder why the other was so angry, especially at him. He hadn't done anything to anger or hurt Fanboy. Just as he began to speak once again, a loud blaring filled the air, causing both Kyle and Fanboy to nearly jump out of their skins, which were growing soaked by the rain that continued to fall down upon them.

"Whelp, school's over," Fanboy quickly stated, nearly fumbling with his words, trying to hide the fact that he had jumped from the sound of the school bell. He stood up from the ground, scrunching his face with disgusted as he noticed his pants were soaked with rain water and covered in grass stains. "I'm out of here."

"Wha- What? No! No, no, no, no!" Kyle repeated over and over as he looked from Fanboy, who was currently beginning to walk away, to the school building, where children were flooding around the perimeter of the building. "School can't be over! We just got out of lunch."

"Yeah, we have the last lunch of the day, if you didn't already notice."

The wizard's lip poked out in a small, unhappy pout as he folded his arms tightly across his overly-slender chest. He stomped his foot lightly, mud from the wet ground below sloshing onto his red converse sneakers, causing him to pull his foot away from the puddle with disgust.

"I would have noticed if you hadn't been so busy running away from me and being a royal pain in the neck," the redhead hissed, growling lightly as he looked over to Fanboy's figure in the distance. "And, see! You're running away again!"

The green-eyed teen twisted his upper body lightly, keeping his feet facing in the direction in which he was walking, to face Kyle. A small scowl was on his face, which was being painted with raindrops.

"I'm not running away, I'm just trying to get out of the rain and get away from the people here- including you."

Kyle scoffed and muttered a small profanity under his breath. He began to walk at a faster pace, his shoes sloshing mud across the rain-coated grass blades of the school grounds. He finally managed to catch up to Fanboy as they reached the front of the school, which was flooded with children from all grades.

"Including me?" Kyle panted in a whisper, tired from the long distance walk he had made to catch up to the other. "Our teacher assigned us as "buddies", and I do use the term buddies only as a school term. You can't just get rid of me like that and except me to know what's what around here."

The rain began to grow heavier, causing most children to open umbrellas and hold their textbooks and backpacks over their heads, trying to shield themselves. Fanboy's eyeliner slowly began to smudge and run down his face, causing his eyes to looks more like that of a raccoon's.

"It's the end of the day. I don't have to be your keeper anymore," Fanboy replied, trying to wipe away some of the eyeliner with his sleeve, only causing his sweater to become stained with the black substance and his eye to ache lightly. He groaned a small obscenity and continued to walk across the school yard, being closely followed by Kyle.

* * *

><p>"Head's up!"<p>

"I've got it! I've got i-" Duke called to Cheech, who had thrown a football in the blonde's direction. His words were cut off by the fact that his back had bumped into Fanboy's, causing Fanboy to stumble forward and scratch his arm against the barbed fence that made the school feel even more like a prison.

"Ow! Fuck!"

Duke turned around, ready to apologize to the person he had bumped into, until he noticed that person was Fanboy, of course.

"Oh," the blue-eyed teen smirked, looking back a forth between his daily victim and the fresh meat. "Well, isn't it lovely to run into you two love birds again?"

"Look, Duke," the raven-haired male began, spitting out rain water as he spoke, trying to clean the blood from his arm. He sighed lightly as he rolled up his sleeve, bearing his trail of self-inflicted scars, moving his free hand to attempt to hide them and wipe away the blood at the same time. "I don't feel like putting up with your bull. I just want to go home."

"Hey, Chuggy! Cheech!" Duke cackled as he called to his minions, motioning a finger to gesture them over to where he was standing. He looked over to Fanboy, examining his slender, bleeding arm, smirking wildly as he saw the scars that were exposed. "Get over here. Zacky's got some new scars he wants to show off."

"Come on, Chuggy," Cheech smiled, pulling out a few sharpie markers from his coat pocket, using his free hand to hold a textbook over his jet-black hair, which was hidden beneath a beanie. "Pick a color."

Fanboy quickly coward, moving over to Kyle in a fast-paced walk. He grabbed firmly onto the redhead's lanky wrist, tugging it roughly, nearly pulling the fragile bones out of place.

"Come on!"

"Fa-Fanboy!" Kyle shouted, trying to regain his wrist's freedom. He hadn't been paying much attention to the situation, since he'd been looking for any signs of transportation. He wondered about Duke's words and why Chuggy and Cheech were holding sharpie markers, but he figured now wasn't the time to ask. "Where are we going? Where are the buses?"

"Stop asking questions and run."

The two boy's ran, being careful not to slip and fall in the mud that surround the school building. They panted heavily from exhaustion when they finally reached the buses. Fanboy ran down the line of buses, tugging a struggling Kyle behind him as he did so.

"106, this is my bus," Fanboy sighing with slight relief, knowing he and his tormenters didn't ride the same bus, he climbed into the opened doors, pulling Kyle into the bus along with him, tugging him to the seat in the very back of the vehicle.

* * *

><p>"Fanboy?" Kyle questioned once they were seated and settled, noticing Fanboy had forgotten to roll down the sleeve of his sweatshirt. His golden eyes examined the blood, but more importantly the thin, horizontal scars trailing from the inside of Fanboy's elbow down to his wrist. "What are those?"<p>

Fanboy looked down to where Kyle's golden eyes were gesturing. He felt a slight panic wash over him. He rapidly tugged the sweatshirt down, uttering profanities.

"Forget you saw those."


	5. A Place Called Home

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Here's another chapter. I want to thank everyone for the positive feedback on this edited version. Most people gave me absolute Hell about the older version, so thank you all so much. I really feel that I've improved this story. Also, I still have a lot more fanfictions in progress that I'll have to post after "Deadly Connections" is over. However, I don't want to start a new story just yet. I want to write my stories one at a time, rather than having multiple in-progress stories going at once. I was planning on posting this yesterday, but I was taking part in the protest against S.O.P.A. If you don't know what S.O.P.A is, I highly suggest that you check it out and do all that you can to prevent it. Okay, on with the chapter. Enjoy.

**Chapter Five: A Place Called Home**

"But-"

"I said to forget you saw them!" Fanboy snapped roughly, his emerald eyes blazing brightly with slight anger. He rubbed his arm through the fabric of his sweater, which was stained with eyeliner and blood and had a huge rip from the fence, causing the scars to still be shown.

"Why are you mad at me? I just asked you a question!" Kyle snapped back just as venomously. He rubbed his elbow out of habit, scratching against the skin nervously as he forced himself to settle. He leaned back against the seat, feeling some of his exposed skin stick to the leather.

The raven-haired teen sighed softly, feeling somewhat guilty for snapping at the redhead. He clamped his hand down over his scars so they wouldn't show. He felt the dried blood under his fingertips, feeling somewhat defeated as he ran his hand over the rather large scratch from the fence.

He drew in a deep breath as he looked over to the wizard sitting next to him, shrugging a little as he pulled his legs into the seat and pulled his iPod from his sweater's pocket.

"Uh... so, where do you live?" Fanboy asked, trying his best to lighten the pressure of the tension between the two of them. He looked to Kyle once again, noticing a turn in the wizard's expression. The expression had changed from an annoyed one to one of slight sadness and worry.

"L-live?" Kyle stuttered, thinking back to the night before. He thought about how uncomfortable the park bench he had stayed on was and he remembered how frightened he was when he woke up with a strange man's hand in his pocket, rummaging for money. "W-well, to tell you the truth, I don't really have a place to stay."

Fanboy gave the other teen a questioning look, somewhat distrusting the statement, but going along with it. He fumbled his thumb over the keys of his iPod, searching for a song to listen to before replying to the redhead. He quickly gave up when none of the songs suited his fancy. He placed the object back in his pocket and turned slightly to look out the window, watching as the bus driver and tons of students began to walk toward the bus.

"O-oh," came the taller teen's simple reply. His tone was almost sympathetic, as if he actually showed some sign of care for Kyle. "I'm sorry about that."

Kyle's golden eyes became as bright as the stars when he heard the apology. Most people, including himself, would think he had done things to deserve sleeping on benches and being vulnerable to all kinds of horrible happenings. He smiled wide, hiding it and his braces with his hand.

"Thanks," the magical child muttered under his breath, his British accent coating his voice. "I guess."

Fanboy thought carefully over the situation, wondering where his classroom buddy would stay if he had no home. He shuddered lightly as his mind went into over-drive and his thoughts began to conflict one another.

_Okay, Fanboy. Don't panic. Just ask him to stay at your place until he finds a place. What? No! No way! The bitch can find a motel. But, he probably doesn't have any money. You should let him stay. No! Yes! No! Yes!_

"Shut up!" The raven-haired boy shouted, covering his ears tightly until he realized that wasn't going to help stop his thoughts. He uncovered his ears and looked around, children in other seats staring at him intensely. Half of them he didn't even recognize due to the fact that they were from other grades.

"What? All I did was thank you!" Kyle responded defensively, jumping out of his seat a bit at Fanboy's sudden outburst.

"I... I didn't mean you... I meant..." Fanboy stammered heavily, long pauses interrupting his words as he continued to think. "Kyle, do you want to stay at my place until you can find somewhere to stay? There, I said it!"

Kyle's facial expression beamed with slight joy, which he hid by looking in the opposite direction. He quickly turned back to face Fanboy when he noticed other students staring at him. He wiped the goofy grin from his face and calmed his excitement as he cleared his throat, preparing to speak.

"O-oh, well, thank you for the offer, Fanboy," the redhead stated, attempting to ignore the stares that were falling upon him. "But, I'd hate to impose."

Fanboy looked around, his emerald eyes darting about as he looked at the students staring at him and Kyle. He smacked his hand over his face lightly, dragging it down until his hand fell into his lap.

"You won't be imposing," the slightly younger teen muttered almost inaudibly. "Just stop causing a scene."

"How am I causing a sce-"

The wizard's sentence was cut off by a loud screeching sound and a sharp jerk from the bus. His back slammed against the seat from the jerking motion. He, Fanboy, and the other students made a few disgruntle sounds from being thrashed about in there seats so abruptly. Kyle grasped the area where his heart was located, hoping it was still intact as it thumped out of his chest.

"First stop!" The bus driver screeched in a low-pitched, manly tone. Her gray hair fell in front of her face as she scratched the large, hair-covered mole on the side of her chin. She coughed and hacked as the bus fumes entered the vehicle once she opened the doors.

The green-eyed teen gave Kyle a sharp pinch to shoulder, snapping the redhead out of a slight trance. Kyle looked to Fanboy with slightly wide eyes, calming once his trance was broken.

"Sh-she nearly _killed_ us!"

"No, she didn't," Fanboy explained in a grumbled mutter, grabbing onto Kyle's wrist for the umpteenth time that day. He tugged roughly as a gesture for Kyle to follow him. He wiped a bit of the smeared eyeliner from his face, trying to clean up as best as possible. "Just come on. This is our stop."

* * *

><p>"Ed!" A hefty man with dark, hazel eyes and raven hair slicked back in a ponytail, called up a set of stairs. His lisped voice grew louder and louder to attempt to speak over the loud guitar chords. "Ed! Seriously! Come down here!"<p>

After a few moments, the guitar abruptly cut with a sharp chord. A slightly chunky boy poked his head out of a poster-covered door. He looked down the stairs with chocolate brown eyes. A large guitar hanging from a strap around his neck.

"Oz, how many times do I have to tell you, call me by my band name: Chum Chum," the boy called down to the man, he fully opened his door to exit the room his was in, a pungent odor of dirt socks wafting from the room as the motion was made. Chum Chum headed down the stairs, pushing his brunette locks out of his face as he did so. "What do you want?"

Oz frowned slightly, thinking over past events. He looked around to make sure Fanboy was no where in sight. He moved his hands to the boy's shoulders, patting them in a fatherly manner.

"E- uh- Chum Chum, I want you to be nice to your brother when he gets home."

"He's not my brother," Chum Chum muttered, glaring at the man with sharp eyes. Why should he have to be nice to someone who was never nice to him? It didn't make much sense. He shrugged as a gesture for Oz to move his hands away.

"I adopted you both, that means he is your brother in a way. Now, just be nice to him."

The fifteen-year-old pouted and sighed as the statement was repeated. He swatted the hands away when they didn't move, causing them to pull away.

"Why do I have to be nice to _him_? He's never nic-"

"Edmund," Oz sighed, running a hand over his gelled-back hair. He shook his head a little to literally shake off the frustration the boy was giving him. "You know Zack's been through a lot, especially since school started back. I want you to be nice to him. Now, go upstairs and wash up, Mother's almost got dinner ready."

"Fine, but don't expect me to be nice to him all the time."

* * *

><p>"So," the wizard commented awkwardly as they walked through the rain, which had settled into a soft, peaceful drizzle. "Where do you live?"<p>

Fanboy didn't answer immediately, instead, he brushed his hand through his hair and sighed. He looked around for the large sign that read 'Oz Comix'. He spotted the sign in the distance and pointed toward the area.

"Butcher?" Kyle questioned, reading the sign next to the comic shop, pointing in the same direction as the seventeen-year-old. "You live at the butcher shop? That's really stra-"

"Comic. Shop." The green-eyed male stated through gritted teeth, grabbing Kyle's arm and pointing it at the proper sign. "I live at that comic shop. My bedroom's upstairs in the attic."

"Oh, well, yes, that does make more sense."

* * *

><p>Minutes passed before they finally reached the door of the comic shop. Fanboy pushed the glass door open, his presence being made known by a tiny, golden bell dinging. He cringed at the noise, knowing he wouldn't have a chance to just sneak upstairs and explain Kyle's presence later.<p>

"Zack? Is that you in there?" The mustached man called to the front of the store, walking into the room. His red sneakers slightly scuffed the floor as his heavy feet shuffled over to Fanboy.

"Fanboy. My name is Fanboy."

"Oh, right," the man chuckled nervously, moving a hand to Fanboy's back, patting the area as a welcome. Oz began to walk away until a flash of red caught his eye. He took a second look to the red patch, noticing it was hair. He smiled warmly and heartily. "Fanboy, you should have told me you were bringing a friend home. Seriously, I could have had mother set out an extra plate for dinner."

Kyle nervously frowned, he blushed softly and waved at the man. Kyle glanced down to his stomach, moving a hand over a large gash that began to show itself. He swiftly tugged the burgundy shirt down over the area and smiled a bit.

"I-it's alright, Mister- umh- Fanboy's dad."

Fanboy frowned deeply at those words. He turned to Kyle, trying his hardest not to snap the wizard's head off right then and there. He shuddered lightly as he felt a sting of tears fill his emerald eyes.

"Zack!" Oz exclaimed as he watched Fanboy shudder. He glanced over the torn sweater and saw the dried blood on the green, fuzzy fabric.

Fanboy turned to Oz and then glanced downward to where the man's eyes were targeted. His eyes widened at the scratch that had slipped his mind.

"O-Oz... that's not... it's not... I didn't. I swear, I didn't."


	6. Explanations

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Before I begin this chapter, I just want to thank you all for reviewing this story. So far, I have thirteen reviews, which is way more than I thought I would be getting (and surprisingly, they aren't flames). So, thanks to all of you who have reviewed and have given me positive feedback on this story. I really, really appreciate it. Also, this may be the last chapter for awhile since I'm going to be really busy over the next few weeks. My mom and dad's birthday is this month, I have to get my wisdom teeth cut out, I have to finish packing and get moved into my new house. Bleh. I just have a lot of stuff going on that could prevent me from updating. However, I'll try to squeeze in chapters if I find the time. Well, on with the chapter, enjoy. Oh, don't forget to sign petitions against S.O.P.A/P.I.P.A. I highly, highly suggest everyone join the cause to stop these bills. Fanfictions are at stake. Thank you. Now, on with the chapter.

**Chapter Six: Explanations **

"Zack, I know that you're having some problems right now, but you can't keep doi-"

"I didn't do anything!"

Kyle blinked softly with confusion and slight worry. His eyes widened as he noticed the tears that Fanboy was holding back. He felt his heart sink as he remembered asking about the many scars that trailed down Fanboy's forearm.

"Ah, c-could someone point me in the direction of the restroom?" The golden-eyed teen asked with a barely audible tone of voice. He looked up the stairs, noticing another young boy staring back at him.

Oz soothingly moved a hand to Fanboy's back, ushering him over to a stool in front of the comic shop's counter. He shushed the raven-haired teen as he began to make faint whimpers. He looked to Kyle when he gained the time to answer the wizard's question.

"It's upstairs, second door on the left."

Kyle nodded in understanding, moving over to the staircase, climbing up a few steps until he was hidden by a wallpapered wall. He leaned against the wall with his back, shuddering as the cold paper grazed against a gash on his back. He readjusted his shirt once again to fix this problem.

"I thought you had to use the bathroom," Chum Chum spoke as he moved next to Kyle, causing the redhead to jump from the startle of the brunette's presence.

"Ah! O-oh, well, yes. I did, but the feeling's passed now."

"It's not cool to spy on people, you know?"

* * *

><p>"I didn't do that, I swear. Oz, you have to believe me."<p>

The mustached man sighed softly, patting Fanboy's back lightly before rubbing the area in a small, calming circle. He looked over Fanboy's expression, his heart tugging and dropping at the sight. He hated seeing the kid he considered his own flesh and blood so broken and shattered.

"I've trusted you so many times before, Zack-"

"F-Fanboy," the raven-haired teenager sniffled, his voice a low mutter as he rested his head on the counter, the coolness comforting him.

"Fanboy, right. I just don't know what's gotten into you. You can tell me what's wrong."

"I wasn't cutting myself, Oz! Duke pushed me into a fence and it ripped my sweater and sliced my arm."

* * *

><p>Kyle's face filled with slight shock, his hand rushed to cover his mouth as a small gasp escaped him. He never would have thought those scars were Fanboy's own doing. He thought of child abuse or something brought on by others. He thought of things he could relate to himself. He never would have thought of self-harm.<p>

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"Why should he tell you?" Chum Chum questioned, still standing next to Kyle, looking down to his father-figure and his adoptive brother. He watched as Fanboy's body shook with small sobs and as Oz patted his back. "He doesn't tell anybody, what would make you so special?"

The redhead turned to face the shorter, younger teen, his expression slightly annoyed, yet still concerned. He cleared his throat before speaking, making sure his voice would sound more annoyed and less concerned.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" Chum Chum asked, still staring at his older brother. "I'm little mister emo's brother. Well, sort of."

"Don't call him that," Kyle snapped faintly, unsure why he felt so protective all of a sudden. He glared at Chum Chum for a moment before looking back to the pitiful scene of Fanboy and Oz. He sighed as he looked back to the stubby brunette, picking up on Chum Chum's wording. "What do you mean by sort of?"

The brunette shook his head as he began to walk back up the stairs, entering his room and beginning to play his guitar once again, strumming the strings so the music was loud enough for Kyle not to be able to hear anymore of Fanboy's conversation.

* * *

><p>"So, Duke's causing you more trouble is he? Didn't I tell you to just ignore him?" Oz asked in a soft, yet firm tone of voice. He continued to rub Fanboy's back until the seventeen-year-old had calmed enough to speak clearly.<p>

"I-it's not that simple, Oz. You don't even know what kind of things he's put me through. I just want... I just want to go home."

"Zack, you are home."

"I'm not home, this has never been my home," the raven-haired teen muttered under his breath as he once again rested his head on the counter, he sighed gently with frustration until he felt another hand on his back. His expression quickly faded into one of confusion as he looked up to the hand's owner- Kyle.

"I, um, I hate to interrupt, but I just had an interesting conversation with your brother," Kyle whispered to Fanboy as he sat on the stool next to the green-eyed boy. He patted Fanboy's back in a friendly manner, showing some type of caring for the other for the first time.

Fanboy tilted his head up and looked over to Kyle, he glared at the sound of Kyle's words, but couldn't be angry when he felt the comfort from Kyle's hand and light smile. He sighed faintly under his breath as he looked back to Oz.

"Fantastic," Fanboy muttered sarcastically, his eyes once again refocusing on Kyle. "What did he want?"

"W-well, I don't think I should tell you exactly what he said, but he said he was sort of your brother. I was wondering what he meant by sort of."

The raven-haired teen's eyes once again stung with tears as he looked back to Oz, who instinctively pulled him into a tight, calming embrace. He rubbed Fanboy's back before carefully ending the hug.

"Uh, Za- Fanboy, why don't you go get washed up for dinner? It'll be done soon. I'll have mother set out an extra plate for your friend here."

* * *

><p>"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to make him so upset," Kyle muttered out, his voice soft and apologetic. His golden eyes transfixed onto the heavy-set male before slowly looking down to connect with the floor.<p>

Oz looked away to the floor before replying, moving a hand to pat against Kyle's shoulder.

"It's alright," he said with his usual lisp. "I'm guessing Zack didn't tell you?"

Kyle shook his head in response to the question, looking up the stairs as he heard a door slam shut.

"N-no. What didn't he tell me?"

The bearded man ran his hand over his face to shake off a bit of the nervousness, looking up the stairs when he saw Fanboy walking from the bathroom and toward his bedroom. He felt on edge from seeing the fresh scratch, he gulped as he turned back to place his attention onto Kyle.

"Zack is, well, I adopted him when he was five years old. His parents left him on the curb of an orphanage. He was just wandering around outside, I felt so bad that I decided to adopt him. When he got older and started to understand things, he began to explain how he loved his mom and dad, until they started using drugs. They began to neglect him and focus more on drugs until they finally left him in order to have enough money."

Kyle's eyes widened at the story, he covered his mouth with his hands before lowering his hands into his lap. He gazed to the floor, feeling a bit of guilt over the way he had acted the whole day.

"O-oh, well, that would explain a lot," the redhead mumbled, looking back to the man sitting next to him. "Just so you know, Fanboy was telling the truth about Duke. I was there when it happened."

"Oh?" Oz smiled with relief as he replied. "That's seriously great to know. Now, how about you go up and hang out with Zack until dinner is ready?"

The wizard nodded in response as he slid off of the stool, stepping up a few of the stairs, heading toward the room that Fanboy had entered earlier. He knocked on the door as loudly as possible to overcome the high pitched screeching of Chum Chum's guitar.

"Fanboy? Can I come in?"


	7. Dinner Conversations

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Okay, here's a really quick update. I couldn't resist updating since I felt the last chapter was one of my weakest. It was one of my shorter chapters as well, so I'm going to try to make this one a bit longer if I can. After I post this chapter, I'm going to work on the second chapter for my other story. Make sure to check it out on my profile. I also have a few other stories that I'm working on the first chapter for and I have a few one-shots that I'm going to be posting. Anyway, I apologize for any typos and such. Enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter Seven: Dinner Conversations**

"You're going to anyway," Fanboy sighed out in a muttered voice, standing up from his bed, placing the magazine he was reading underneath his mattress. He stood up from his mattress, which was placed on the floor, the sheet barely big enough to fit on it. He walked over to the door, looking to the pin-up poster on the back of his door. He moved his hands to said poster, ripping it down, causing the woman's large, over-exposed breasts to become torn. He tossed the ripped poster to the floor, kicking it underneath a small chair before moving his pale, spidery hand to the doorknob, turning it and opening the door.

"Fanboy, I feel that I owe you an apology," the redhead mumbled under his breath as he looked to the floor, scratching his elbow in a nervous habit. "I didn't know about your parents or about the, um, the cutting."

"W-what?" Fanboy chuckled nervously, running a hand through his multicolored hair. His hand slid to the back of his neck and rubbed nervously against the area. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't cut myself, I just get into a lot of accidents. That's all."

"But, I heard you tell Oz that you weren't cutting yourself again. So, I just figured that meant you'd done it before," Kyle stated without thinking, quickly rushing his hand over his mouth once again, looking away from Fanboy, afraid of his reaction.

"You heard me telling Oz that I wasn't- You were spying on me?" The green-eyed teen exclaimed, his anger returning as he turned around to face the pale, white wall behind him. He saw a few more pin-ups hanging on the wall that he was facing, but he didn't seem to notice them at the time. "I don't believe this!"

Kyle walked into the room, looking around, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the sight of all the half-naked poster woman that seemed to stare a hole right through him. He coughed slightly, walking over to Fanboy, who was staring down at the street from his two story window.

"I... I was just a little curious."

Fanboy scoffed at the redhead's words, looking back to Kyle as he was approached. He glared with bright emerald eyes at the wizard, looking over Kyle's body, his eyes noticing something he hadn't seen before.

"What are those?"

* * *

><p>"Ozala, no snacking before dinner," Oz's mother scolded in a sweet tone, popping her son's hand with a wooden spoon. "That pudding is for dessert."<p>

"Ow, seriously!" Oz exclaimed, rubbing the back of his hand as a red welt began to appear. He looked over the table with wide, hungry eyes, smiling at all of the delicious food and aromas. "This food looks awesome."

The bearded man smirked sneakily as he slowly walked his fingers across the table, reaching his hand out for a dinner roll. He jumped slightly as he hand was once again attacked by the wooden spoon. His lisped voice gave off a small yelp.

"Why don't you go up and see if the children are ready to eat?"

"But-"

"Ozzy," the short-stature, white-haired lady said sternly, pointing up the set of stairs.

"Fine," Oz whined in a mumbled tone of voice, slumping his shoulders as he began to walk in the direction in which his mother was pointing. He waddled up the stairs to retrieve the boys, his red boots causing the stairs to squeak under pressure.

"Don't slouch, Honey."

* * *

><p>Kyle's golden eyes widened with fear as he rushed a hand to where Fanboy was staring. He clamped the hand over the large gash on his overly-thin stomach.<p>

"T-those? Those are nothing."

"A huge hole in your stomach isn't exactly nothing, Kyle," the lanky, green-eyed teen pointed out, moving closer to the redhead, reaching out a hand to touch the wound.

"Don't touch it!" The wizard screeched, pulling away from Fanboy to avoid the hand that was heading toward the gash. He nearly tripped over his own two feet as he backed away. Fanboy's hand quickly retracted and fell by his side, his expression both surprised and confused.

"Sorry," Fanboy defensively responded, moving past Kyle and flopping down onto his mattress, looking up at the ceiling. "I was just curious."

Kyle smirked faintly, chuckling a bit at Fanboy's response. He rolled his bright eyes and moved to sit on the foot of the mattress, looking over to the other.

"Well, I guess that makes two of us."

Just as Fanboy was ready to reply, a loud, large knock came from the raggedy door. Both of the teenagers jumped slightly, looking toward the door as it creaked open, noticing the raven-haired man standing at the door. Oz entered the room with a bright smile, still rubbing the small red patch on his hand.

"Hey, are you guys ready for dinner? Mother's got a feast for kings downstairs."

"Oh, well, that's a very generous offer," Kyle spoke up, managing a small smile as he spoke and looked to the plump man. His eyes wandered back over to Fanboy before speaking again. "B-but, I'd really hate to impose on your family."

"You wouldn't be imposing, little dude," Oz chuckled, fixing his mustache with his fingers before walking over to the mattress and putting a hand on Kyle's shoulder, patting it heartily. He looked over Kyle's anorexic-thin frame and then back to the wizard's thin face. "You look like you need some meat on your bones."

"N-no, no, I'm fine," Kyle nervously chuckled, moving his shoulder away from the man's touch. He stood up from the mattress and moved to lean against the door frame. "I, um, I had a big lunch."

"Pfft," Fanboy scoffed harshly, standing up and moving toward the door. He waited for Oz to leave the room before leaning into Kyle's ear. "We didn't even eat lunch. Now, stop making a fuss and come downstairs."

"B-but-"

"Just come on, you don't have to eat anything, you just have to sit there."

The wizard shook his head, watching as Fanboy walked through the door and out into the hallway. He sighed faintly, deciding not to put up an argument as he followed the lanky teen down the large staircase. He frowned as they reached the dining room, looking over the large feast that was spread over the freshly-polished, wooden table.

"W-wow, that's... that's quite a lot of food."

"You should see what the holidays are like," the raven-haired teen retorted, walking into the dining room, looking over the table and then to the faces of the people sitting at it. He made a small grunt as he noticed Oz stuffing his face, Oz's mother cleaning her dentures before adjusting them in her mouth, and his younger brother staring at him and Kyle with sharp, brown eyes.

"Are the holidays this uncomfortable?" The golden-eyed male muttered in Fanboy's ear as he tried to avoid Chum Chum's staring.

"Pretty much."

* * *

><p>After a few minutes, Fanboy and Kyle were seated at the over-sized table with the rest of the family. They both looked around, trying to avoid Chum Chum's stare once more.<p>

"What do you want, Dweeb?" Fanboy finally spoke up, speaking in Chum Chum's direction. He scooped some potatoes from the large bowl they were in and placed them onto his chipped china plate.

"Him," was the brunette's simple reply as he nodded his head towards Kyle as a gesture. He moved his hand over to the dinner rolls, placing one onto his plate without breaking the stare he had locked onto Kyle. "What's he doing here? I know you don't have any friends."

"I have friends," the green-eyed teen grumbled in a low tone before clearing his throat to speak. "Kyle's new in town and he doesn't have a place to stay. So, I asked if he wanted to stay here."

Oz's mother walked over to Kyle, who still sat with a bare plate. She scooped a decent amount of steamed carrots from a large bowl and piled them onto his plate, followed by many other vegetables and meats. She smiled at the young boy, patting his shoulder softly as he looked up and smiled politely back at her.

"Well, I don't see any harm in that," the elderly lady stated with a warm smile as she moved back to her seat. "Now, don't just sit there, eat up."

"Welcome aboard, little dude," Oz, too, smiled at the redhead from his chair, nodding his head in agreement with his mother's words. "You can stay with Fanboy in his room."

"Why can't he stay on the couch?" Fanboy questioned with a quiet tone, hoping he wouldn't be heard.

"You know that couch has to be repaired before anyone can sleep on that ratty thing again," chimed in Oz's mother in response to the boy's question.

* * *

><p>Dinner continued for quite a while, accompanied by a few spats between Fanboy and Chum Chum.<p>

"Zack, Edmund," Oz sternly stated with a lisp as he looked to his adoptive sons. He pointed his fingers from his eyes to the boys and then back to his eyes as a sign that he was watching them. "You two can fight when you get upstairs, but dinner time is a time for serious relaxation."

"He started it," Fanboy muttered, rolling his eyes as he scooped potatoes onto his fork and into his mouth. He glared at Chum Chum with brilliant emerald eyes and Chum Chum glared back with dark chocolate eyes. They broke their stares and looked to Kyle, noticing he was pushing his food around on his plate with the fork, but wasn't actually eating.

"Why isn't your "friend" eating?"

Kyle snapped out of his slight trance, looking up from his food-covered plate and glanced to the faces that were staring at him. He blushed faintly, stabbing a carrot with his fork and moving it into his mouth. He chewed it carefully, hesitating to swallow the food.

"I'm eating, I'm just not that hungry, I suppose."

"You've been acting weird all day," Chum Chum commented about the wizard's behavior. He pushed some brunette locks out of his face and looked down to his plate, taking a bit out of his food.

"He's only been here for half an hour."

"Doesn't matter, he's still be acting weird. He's even weirder than you are, Zack."

"Don't call me that, and I'm not the weird one sitting at this table."

The father-figure coughed and cleared his throat as a gesture for the boys to stop their argument. Of course, this gesture was futile as the two boys continued to spat.

"I know you're not talking about me," Chum Chum responded hastily, pointing to Fanboy's face. "You're the one with eyeliner smeared down your face. Your hair's not even a normal col-"

"Okay, okay," Oz spoke up, standing up from his chair. He placed his large hands on the table, trying to avoid putting his hands in any food. "I think it's time for you both to go back to your rooms. Zack, it's time for you to take a shower."

"Fanboy."

"Right, right, sorry."


	8. Kyle's Scars

"**Deadly Connections"**

Emily B.

**Author's Note**

I know that I said I was going to postpone updating, but my friend, Kaira, said that she would kill me if I didn't update. So, I didn't want to find out if that was true, so here's an update. Besides, I really want to get this story done soon, considering I've had the ending of the story already plotted out since early November. Anyway, here we go. Enjoy the chapter and ignore any typos.

**Chapter Eight: Kyle's Scars**

The three boys slowly made their way up the stairs. Fanboy and Chum Chum paused every couple of stairs in order to poke or punch each other. They grumbled a few obscenities at each other with every step they took. The pushing and physical violence eventually grew less intense as they reached the top of the stairs and parted ways to their own rooms.

Fanboy entered his room, trying to shake off the annoyed expression his brother had forced onto his face. He unclenched his fists and sighed softly, looking around the room. He moved over to the dresser with a fret on his face, opening one of the drawers, moving a few socks over to reveal two knives. He quickly hid them under the socks once again, grabbing a pair of undergarments and a shirt from the drawer.

"Well, I must say," Kyle began to speak as he finally reached the top of the staircase, following Fanboy into his bedroom. "You and your brother don't seem to get along."

"We never have," Fanboy replied as he tried to shut the drawer that was stuffed to the brim with clothing, papers, pencils, and all sorts of random things, including the two knives, which he kept well hidden from sight. He looked over to the scarlet-haired teen when he finally managed to close the drawer. "I have to go take a shower."

"Oh, Fanboy," Kyle moved over to the slightly taller teen, smiling faintly and nervously as he moved in front of the door, preventing Fanboy from exiting the room. The taller of the two rolled his emerald eyes as his path was blocked. He folded his arms, holding his clothing in one hand.

"What do you want? You're in the way."

"I was just, um, I was just wondering if I could take a shower first. I like to keep my hygiene perfect and, well, I haven't been able to have a decent shower in ages."

Fanboy glared at the wizard, looking over Kyle's facial expression. He sighed faintly under his breath as he looked over Kyle's body, noticing the scar on his stomach. He figured somebody with that type of wound should keep it as clean as they possibly could.

"Fine, I guess," came the raven-haired boy's mumbled reply. He looked over Kyle's body once again and then looked to his own pajamas. If Kyle didn't have a place to stay, he most likely didn't have clothes to wear either. "Do you even have anything to wear?"

"Ah," Kyle muttered, looking over his body and back and forth to his hands. He wondered how he could have been so stupid to forget he didn't have any clothes. He looked over the clothes he was currently wearing, frowning with disgust as he felt the germs crawling all over his pale skin. He sighed a bit and looked to Fanboy, shaking his head in response. "No. No, I don't. W-would you mind if I borrowed some of yours?"

The wizard walked further into the room and over to the dresser, trying to remember which drawer Fanboy had been rummaging through earlier. He moved a delicate hand over the handle in the middle of the drawer, tugging against it softly, noticing that the drawer was stuck.

"Wait! Don't open that!" Fanboy shouted as he rushed over the the drawer, worrying about Kyle discovering his small knife collection and snitching on him. He nervously smiled at Kyle when he realized his sudden outburst. He covered the drawer with his body, making it impossible for Kyle to open it. "Here, just take mine. I can just sleep in my boxers."

"Oh, but I wouldn't want you to catch col-"

"I insist. Here, take them," Fanboy rushed out, shoving his pajamas into Kyle's arms, turning around to open the drawer, swiftly removing another pair of undergarments before Kyle could catch a glimpse of the knives. He shut it with a bit of struggle and ushered Kyle over to the door, moving a hand to the small of Kyle's back to force the scarlet-haired teen to walk faster toward the door.

"Ow!" Kyle whimpered faintly as his back arched when Fanboy's hand grazed over a large, fresh wound on his back. "C-could you please get your hands off of me? I can walk for myself."

"Sorry," Fanboy muttered back as he moved his hand away from the wound. He watched as Kyle readjusted his shirt, managing to catch sight of the scar on the wizard's back, deciding not to mention it for now. "I should probably show you how to work the shower. It's screwed up, so you have to turn it on a certain way."

"Oh, well, alright," the redhead replied in a soft tone, feeling a little nervous as he thought about being in such a small place with another male. He sighed and followed Fanboy toward the bathroom, looking around as they entered the room.

"Well, here it is," the raven-haired teen introduced as he walked into the bathroom behind Kyle. He pointed to a few of the objects in the bathroom, things such as the shower, the bathtub, the toilet, and the sink. The bathroom was ran-down and old looking. It smelled much like a rest home would when you first walk inside the building; the odor strong and pungent.

"T-this is your bathroom?" Kyle questioned faintly, not wanting to seem offensive and rude as he did so. He looked around, noticing the peeled wallpaper, cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling, and holes in the wall. "It's, um, it's very... nice."

"Yeah, sure," Fanboy replied sarcastically, looking around the room and walking over to the bathtub. He sat on the edge of the bathtub, making a face of disgust as he felt the cold chill of previous water soak through the back of his over-sized jeans. He pounded his fist against the wall a few times before moving his hand to the faucet, turning it to the left once and then the right a few times.

"No, no, I mean it," Kyle smiled as he spoke, moving over to stand behind Fanboy, watching the younger teen's complicated hand motions.

"You should probably start undressing now," the green-eyed teen stated, moving a hand through his hair and rushing away from the shower when he heard a loud squealing coming from the wall of the shower. "It only stays warm for a couple of minutes, so you'll have to get in right away or else you'll freeze to death."

The water then began to pour from the head of the shower, steam beginning to rise up from the water as it grew to become scalding hot. The steam slowly dissipated as the water quickly chilled into an Arctic cold state. Kyle ran his hand under the water once the steam had cleared, rapidly jerking the hand back when the cold water made contact with his skin.

"Ah, it's cold, but it'll do."

"I told you that it was going to get cold fast," Fanboy responded to the golden-eyed teen's statement. "There's something wrong with our water heater."

"Why don't you have that fixed, then?" Kyle questioned softly, his face a deep shade of scarlet as he removed the loose burgundy shirt from his body, looking around with confusion. He finally decided to set the article of clothing on the counter of the sink, looking back to Fanboy. "Is it alright if I set my clothes here?"

"Yeah, it's fi-" Fanboy began as he turned to face Kyle, his eyes widening as he moved over to the redhead. He looked over the exposed flesh of Kyle's stomach, blushing slightly as he did so. "K-Kyle, what happened to you?"

Kyle quickly looked down to his stomach, rushing his hands over the area to attempt to cover the scars, failing at this futile attempt. He blushed heavily and looked to the boy with the eyeliner-smudged face. He shuddered slightly at the stinging pain that coursed through the nerves of his abdomen.

"It's... it's nothing. Ouch."

The taller of the two slowly approached the other male, taking a closer look at the gaping wound. The wound was raggedy and a bright shade of tomato red, which was a sign that it was crawling with infection. Fanboy looked over the wound and then back to the others' face with wide, emerald eyes. He reached a spidery hand out once again to touch the ripped flesh. He flinched harshly as his hand was roughly slapped by the wizard.

"Ow!"

"I told you to not touch it!" The wizard shouted, pulling away once again, debating on whether he should redress or continue to undress and take a shower. He decided that he would just undress and get it over with to save both time and a hassle. "Can't you see that it pains me enough already just by trying to remove my clothing? I don't need you touching it and making it worse. Understand?"

"I'm only trying to help," Fanboy grumbled out the explanation, rubbing the red mark that had appeared on the back of his hand. He sighed softly as he nodded in defeat at Kyle's question. He, however, continued to look to the wound, thinking of all sorts of things that could have caused a laceration so deep. "Uh, if you don't mind, could you tell me who did that to you?"

* * *

><p>"<em>What did I tell you about associating with boys! What did I tell you?" A deep, booming voice from a tall, slender man shouted loudly. He withdrew a knife from his pocket, the blade causing the boy in the corner to cower and flinch.<em>

"_Please! Don't!" Kyle screamed, hiding his face in his knees as his knees were pulled to his chest. _

"_Get over here, Boy. Let me teach you a lesson you shall not soon forget."_

"_No! Father! I swear, he tricked me! He fooled me, he did!"_

"_I don't care how it happened!" The booming voice shouted with more venom than ever before, he inched closer to his eighteen-year-old son, wielding the knife in his calloused hand. He smirked at the blade as he watched it shine brightly in the dim light. "I knew that boy was up to no good! I knew your were up to no good! The both of you should be thrown into the slaughter house for your unspeakable actions!"_

_Kyle screamed shrilly and rushed his hands to his abdomen, trying to prevent his father from cutting him with said knife. However, the actions backfired as the man lightly nicked Kyle's pale, frail hand with the tip of the weapon. The younger redhead's hands quickly pulled away, giving the man reluctant access to his stomach._

"_Ahh!" Kyle whimpered in a loud scream as his stomach was deeply sliced open, blood profusely spurting and gushing from the wound that his own father had inflicted upon him. "Stop it! Just stop it!"_

"_You need to learn your lesson!"_

* * *

><p><em>After much more of a horrible beating, Kyle felt his beaten body being tossed to the wet cement of the ground outside of his house. He looked up to the door with wide eyes as it slammed in his freckle-painted face, which was also painted with tears and the rainwater that poured from the darkened, angry sky.<em>

"_No! Please! Father!" Kyle cried out loudly as he clutched his stomach, which was pouring blood from the fresh wound, and stood up from the ground. He pounded weakly on the door of the place he once called home. "Please, let me back inside! It's cold out here."_

_The blood dripping from Kyle's exposed abdomen was mixing with the rainwater that was falling from the charcoal, troubled sky. Loud claps of thunder and a sharp spectrum of lightning filled the darkened sky that Kyle was standing under, shivering from the cold. He sobbed heavily, his snot and saliva becoming one as he coughed and whimpered. He pounded louder on the door, screaming at the top of his lungs. _

"_Please, let me back in! It'll never happen again, I swear to you!" _

_The heavy downpour of rainwater sunk into his wound and dripped off his barely covered body. His once long, burgundy sweater had been cut to his ribs, as was his yellow sweater, which had the sleeves cut also. He clutched tightly onto his bleeding stomach, feeling weaker by the moment as he noticed the blood leaking through the spaces in his fingers. He groaned and whimpered with pain, his face making a grimace. He smiled heavily as the door opened, he however frowned deeply as he noticed the disapproving look on his father's face. _

"_D-daddy?" _

"_Get out of here, Boy," Kyle's father muttered, his golden-eyes meeting with his son's, he smiled sinisterly at the large gash that he had caused to form on his child's abdomen. "You're not welcomed here."_

"_B-But-"_

"_Get out, I said!"_

_Kyle frowned and sobbed harder, his eyes burning red as he shut them tightly, hearing the sound of his parents' door once again slamming in his beaten and slightly swollen face. He grabbed tighter onto his stomach with both hands, dropping his Necronomicon and wand to the wet ground beneath his wobbly feet. He groaned harshly and heavily, dropping to his knees, his jeans ripping against the concrete of his driveway. He got down onto all fours, grabbing his wand and Necronomicon. He crawled out of his driveway and into the street before collapsing on the side of the road. He lay there in the rain, bleeding profusely, his blood being carried away down into the gutter by the rain water._

* * *

><p>"I really don't think that's important, Fanboy," Kyle responded with a low voice as he snapped out of his flashback with a scared look on his pale, freckle-painted face.<p>

"Well, I think it's really important."


	9. Painfully Undressing

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Okay, so, my oral surgery was yesterday. Let me tell you, OUCH! My cheeks look like a chubby guinea pig's cheeks. They're so swollen and I'm in a ton of pain. Thank God for pain killers, even though they make me incredibly sleepy so I keep falling asleep. Anyway, on with the chapter, enjoy and please ignore any typos you may find.

**Chapter Nine: Painfully Undressing**

Fanboy rubbed his elbow out of a nervous habit, glancing down to the floor, wondering why he just said what he had said. He tried to recant his statement, but sighed when he couldn't find a way out of the words. He looked to Kyle with somewhat worried eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing," Fanboy muttered, thinking that Kyle hadn't heard his statement, smiling at this. He looked over Kyle's expression with a saddened face, his smile fading quickly. He thought over his words as the redhead gave him a questioning look. Fanboy lowered his head once again to look down to the cracked tiled floor.

"N-no, what did you say?" Kyle asked with a quiet tone of voice, his heart lifting a little as he inched his way slowly over to Fanboy, sliding a hand to the raven-haired teen's shoulder. He carefully moved the hand to Fanboy's chin, lifting it up to force the two to make a lingering eye contact. Kyle's brilliant golden eyes connected with Fanboy's piercing green ones, causing their minds to click slightly.

"I... I didn't say anything," the green-eyed boy murmured out in a whisper, moving a hand to the others' wrist, pushing the hand slightly to force Kyle to release his chin. He looked to the shower, trying to think of an excuse to not repeat himself, thinking of one as quickly as possible. "Your water's getting cold."

Kyle glanced over to the shower. He walked away from Fanboy and toward the shower, moving his fragile hand to the faucet, turning it off swiftly and causing the water to stop pouring down into the tub below. He sat swiftly on the edge of the tub, placing his hands in his lap as he looked back to the taller boy.

"There, now it's not getting cold. Now, tell me what you said."

"I just said that I thought it was important to know what happened to you! Get off my back!" Fanboy shouted, carefully pushing the other away, trying to escape the situation that was currently at hand. He blushed deeply, hiding this by pulling the hood of his sweater around his face. "Just forget it."

"Now," the redhead began, standing up from the tub and walking back over to Fanboy, moving his hands to the hood around the others' face, pushing it back down into its original place. "Was that so difficult? And keep this ridiculous thing off of your head."

The emerald-eyed teen smirked warmly as a comeback entered his mind. He thought swiftly about the comeback, letting the thoughts brew and stew inside of his mind for a moment. He moved his hands to Kyle's shoulders, patting them lightly as he began to speak.

"I'll keep my hood down, if you tell me what happened to yo-"

"Zack!" A squeaky-pitched voice called from behind the other side of the door. "Hurry up and finish taking a shower. Oz said that I have to take one, too."

"For the last time, stop calling me that," Fanboy called through the wooden door to his brother. He turned away from Kyle, pressing his ear to the door to better hear his brother's words. "I'll be out in a minute. Don't rush me."

"I can't help that Zack is your name."

"Well, I can't help that Edmund is your name," the raven-haired teen sarcastically replied back, his voice a slight shout.

"Don't call me that!" Chum Chum shouted through the door, folding his arms and pouting slightly at the fact that his name was being said out loud.

"See, isn't fun now, is it?"

"Just hurry the fuck up," Chum Chum grumbled under his breath before feeling a large hand graze his back. He looked up to the owner of the hand with a scowl spread onto his face. Oz coughed sternly as he directed the boy to his bedroom, walking behind him to make sure he wouldn't bother the two boys in the bathroom again.

"Edmund, what did I tell you about dropping F-bombs," the heavy-set male questioned with a fatherly tone in his lisped voice. He pushed the child slightly to force Chum Chum more into his room. "Now, just play your guitar until Zack's done with his shower."

"Fine," Chum Chum muttered as he rolled his chocolate eyes behind loosely closed lids. "But, he better hurry up."

* * *

><p>"Well," the wizard spoke up, looking to Fanboy, who had finally turned back to face Kyle instead of the door. "Now that that little spat is over, we can continue our conversation. And the answer is still no. My past is personal and I really would like to keep it to myself."<p>

"But," the taller of the two began, being cut off by Kyle's finger resting on his lips. He tried to swat the hand away, but Kyle was persistent in keeping him quiet.

"No, buts. Besides, I haven't got time to explain things, I have to take a shower."

"Well, make it quick, because I have to take one, too. I don't want Ed more pissed than he already is," Fanboy grumbled, walking over to the shower when he noticed Kyle staring at the faucet with a confused look on his face. He reached out his spidery hand to the faucet, turning it in the complex manner that he had before, letting the water begin to run again.

"There, now hurry up."

Kyle slowly and carefully moved his frail hands to the bottom of his overly-short yellow tube top, lifting it up just a bit until he reached his neck. His body gave a violent shudder as the deep, infected laceration on his neck was rubbed against. He made a faint yelp of pain as he pulled the top back down over his ribs. "Ow, ow, ow! Okay, that is not going to work."

Fanboy looked upon this pitiful sight with confusion on his face. He moved back over to the wizard, sliding his hands to Kyle's sides, a bit of embarrassment interjecting itself into his expression as a faint blush sprawled back over his usually ghostly white face.

"Here, let me help."

The emerald-eyed teen began to lift the yellow top, reaching the area that Kyle had previously stopped at before Kyle began to whine and whimper with slight pain. Kyle quickly rushed his hands to Fanboy's wrists, pushing them away roughly.

"Ow! You twit! That hurts!"

"Well, sorry" Fanboy scoffed, pulling his hands away when they were pushed. He rolled his eyes at Kyle's behavior, noticing the pout on Kyle's face. He sighed faintly as he once again moved his hands to the bottom of the top. "Why does it hurt so bad?"

"You try having this type of fabric grazing against this," the eighteen-year-old shouted, tugging down the turtle neck portion of the top with slight discomfort. He pointed to the deep slash that ran all the way across his pale, thin neck. "Now, do you see why it hurts?"

"O-oh," Fanboy murmured out, feeling a bit of guilt for snapping at Kyle before, looking over the gash as it was exposed. "You should probably get that looked at. It looks infected."

"Yes, well, I'm perfectly capable of nursing myself back to health," the golden-eyed boy responded in a soft, British whisper. "But, thank you for the concern."

"Yeah, no problem, I guess," the multicolored hair teen responded with just as soft of a tone. He coughed nervously before moving his hands back to rest on the small curves in Kyle's waist. "L-let's just try this again."

Kyle nodded nervously, taking in a silent breath and forcing a smile as he looked to Fanboy. He lifted his boney and slightly bruised arms in order to make it easier to remove the top. Fanboy slid his hands up from the curves in Kyle's sides, moving the hands to the bottom of the yellow top, raising it once again. This time, he managed to push it fully up to the neck, pulling it off carefully and swiftly, causing Kyle to hiss with pain. The wizard's fiery red hair became a shaggy mess as the top was pulled over his head. He sighed gently with relief as he watched Fanboy place the top onto the counter.

"Thank goodness that's over," Kyle commented, looking from the top that had caused him so much pain and back to Fanboy, smiling softly. "Thank you for your help, Fanboy. I think I can get undressed the rest of the way myself."

"Are you sure?" Fanboy questioned, looking to the bright purple bruises that showed on the flesh that was exposed just above the top of Kyle's pants. He stepped closer to the wizard, looking over his body carefully, making a full examination before moving a hand to Kyle's pants button, undoing it carefully, causing both boys to blush heavily. "Jeez, how many cuts and bruises do you have. They're all over you. Who the hell did this to you?"

"W-what did I tell you about asking questions? I haven't got the time to explain. Besides, my shower's probably getting cold," the redhead responded, his bright golden eyes glancing down to Fanboy's spidery hand that was currently undoing the zipper of Kyle's jeans. The pants fell around the wizard's ankles, causing both boys to blush even deeper. Fanboy's expression grew serious as he looked over Kyle's lower half, ignore Kyle's undergarments of choice.

"N-nice underwear, Kyle."

"S-Shut up," Kyle blushed deeply, hiding the blush behind his hands, glancing down to his undergarments, which was a burgundy thong, only being held up by a set of strings on either side of his hips. "It was the only thing that I could afford when I got kicked o- uh, when I moved here."

"Kicked out? You were kicked ou-"

"Water's getting cold," Kyle murmured as he rushed Fanboy to get him undressed.

"Fine, I get it."

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of small arguments, Fanboy had finally managed to fully undress the wizard. He blushed more heavily as he looked over Kyle's body. He had never seen another male in the nude and he never knew what kind of reaction he would have if he did see one. He stared absentmindedly at the wizard's body with bright green orbs.<p>

"Would you please stop staring at me?" Kyle asked with a nervous tone and a deep, scarlet blush on his freckle-painted face. "I know I'm probably not as, um, equipped as you are but-"

"No, no, it's not that. It's just, uh, I've never... I've never seen another guy without any clothes on. That's all."


	10. Shower Misunderstandings

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Finally, it's about time that I reached chapter ten on this thing, it's kind of getting annoying because I really want to write the ending that I've had planned out since November, but I just have to take it one chapter at a time, I guess. And, yes, my face still hurts really bad, so I don't even know why I'm still writing when I really just want to sleep all day long. Anyhow, enjoy the chapter and ignore any typos you may find. Actually, I really need to release some rage. I want this story to be finished. I really want to be done with it. It's taking forever! Sob, whine, sob, bitch, rant, rage. Okay, now enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter Ten: Shower Misunderstanding**

"O-oh, really?" Kyle questioned in a soft, embarrassed tone of voice, not really thinking over the question before it slipped through his lips. He carefully slid his hands down his body to hide his private areas from Fanboy, blushing heavier when he noticed Fanboy was still staring. "Well, you must somewhat like what you see, considering the fact that you haven't taken your eyes off of me."

The raven-haired teen quickly shook his head and looked to the door with a deep scarlet shade sprawled over his slender face. He intensely stared at the door, wondering if he should bolt away and make his escape.

"J-Just hurry up and take a shower. I don't have all day, remember?"

Kyle looked to the floor with a slightly saddened expression at Fanboy's words. He silently nodded as he moved over to the shower, carefully placing a dainty foot into the tub below, testing the temperature of the water as it fell in rapid droplets against said foot. He shuddered and gasped at the Arctic cold of the water. The redhead instantly yanked his foot out of the tub, shaking it off and then settling it back onto the floor.

"I-it's so cold!"

"I told you that would happen," Fanboy grumbled lightly in a sigh, looking to the floor to avoid looking at the other teen in the room with him. "Just get in and hurry up. It's my turn to suffer next."

"Okay, fine," the redhead snapped slightly, taking in a silent breath as he placed his foot back into the chilled water. His body once again shuddered and he gasped softly, however, he managed to shake off the feelings and climb fully into the shower, pulling the shower curtain to cover his body, the water pounding against his wounds. He hissed sharply trying to hold onto each wound, but failed as he only had two hands. He backed away to the wall of the shower, just hardly out of reach of the water. "Ow, ow, ouch."

"Are you okay?" Fanboy questioned with a slightly annoyed sigh, his hand on the doorknob as he was preparing to leave the room. He looked over to the dull, hunter green shower curtain, thinking of whether he should stay or leave. Kyle let out more sounds of pain as the cold water began to seep into the depths of the lacerations.

"D-do I sound fine to you?" Kyle spat, growling roughly under his breath as he tried to force himself once again back under the water. "Of course I'm not fine. The water's freezing and it's hurting me."

Once again, the emerald-eyed teen sighed heavily, moving a hand from the doorknob and through his highlighted hair. He walked over to the shower, slowly reaching a hand out for the shower curtain, freezing his motions as he thought things over again.

_He's in pain, Fanboy. You should help him. No. No, you already gave him a place to stay, you don't need to help him shower, too. But, he seems to really be hurting. Well, so what, nobody cares when you hurt, so why do I have to hel-_

"Ah! Ow!"

"Ugh, fine," Fanboy muttered to his thoughts, moving a hand to the bottom of his green sweater, tugging it off over his head, causing his hair to gain neon-green, fly-away strands of hair. "Hang on a second."

"For what?" the redhead asked in a whimper of pain, he grimaced lightly at the stinging pain that coursed throughout each nerve in his body.

"Don't ask questions."

The raven-haired teen's bright scarlet blush grew deeper as he brushed his lanky fingers over his pants button. He took in a deep, silent breath as he thought thoroughly over what he was about to do. He traced the button with his fingertip as he tried to stall the situation.

_Okay, just do it. It's not like there's anything behind it. Just get in, help him wash, and get out. That's all there is to it._

"I'm waiting," Kyle stated with a somewhat impatient tone of voice. He thought of what Fanboy could be doing before finally deciding to peer behind the shower curtain. He blushed warmly as he noticed a topless Fanboy staring at his pants button, looking at the button with a conflicted expression. "W-what are you doing?"

"I'm helping you, now shut up," Fanboy responded with a sharp voice, his stare still on his golden pants button. "Besides, you're taking too long to shower and I need one, too."

The redhead gulped harshly, thinking over the response that he was given. He looked around with wide, golden eyes frantically. He reached for the soap, hissing as some of the pain came back in through his anorexic-thin body.

* * *

><p>After a few moments of Kyle making small cries of pain, Fanboy was finally fully undressed. Fanboy carefully moved over to the shower, staring at the curtain, the hunter green color intimidating him viciously. He took in another breath as he reached a shaky hand to curtain, pulling it back swiftly in one nervous, fluid motion.<p>

Both of the boy's had wide eyes as they stared at each other for a brief moment. Kyle took a glance down to Fanboy's member area, growing more nervous as the past rushed through his mind. He shuddered with slight anxiousness, hiding it with a small smile.

"O-oh, Fanboy, you really don't have to help me."

"I didn't just get undressed for nothing," Fanboy angrily grumbled under his breath. He moved into the shower, shaking a bit as the cold water hit his body. He stood under the water for a moment, his hair becoming darker and slicked down, though it was still just as messy as before. "And, like I said before, I have to take a shower before Ed and Oz get pissed off."

"O-oh, right."

* * *

><p>A few more awkward moments passed and silence filled the air. The two boys slowly began to step closer to each other as the time passed, both not saying a word. Fanboy hesitantly reached to the soap, that Kyle had put on the wrong shelf, and walked a little closer to Kyle, who was still giving off slight signs of discomfort.<p>

"Uh, this could hurt."

"What?" Kyle shouted slightly in a rough tone, backing away from Fanboy as his golden eyes grew wide and shook with fear. The visions of the past filled his mind, causing him to attempt to protect himself. "O-oh, wait, you... you mean the soap."

Fanboy glared at the golden-eyed teen with a look of confusion on his face. He held the soap in his hand, trying desperately not to drop it.

"What did you think I meant?" The teen with the wet, multicolored locks asked, deciding to just drop the subject when he heard a loud banging sound coming from the door.

"Zack! I told you to hurry up!" Chum Chum shouted through the door, pounding against it roughly with his fist. He scowled heavily as he reached his hand out to knock on the door once again with just as much pressure. "Zack!"

"Shut up, Ed! I'm busy!" Fanboy called to the younger teen that was behind the door. He moved a little closer to Kyle, moving the soap to Kyle's stomach, running the bar of soap over the major wound, causing the wizard to yelp loudly.

"Ouch!"

Chum Chum gasped slightly as he listened closely to the voice. He smirked heavily and chuckled evilly as he cupped his hands over his mouth to make a megaphone-like shape.

"Oz! Oz! Get up here! Zack and the new kid are fucking in the shower!" the brunette shouted loud enough for the man, who was currently downstairs polishing his collectable figurines, to hear. "Oz!"

"What's wrong, Ed?"

"My name's Chum Chum! And, get up here! Zack and the new kid are fucking in the shower!"

"Ed, shut up!" Fanboy once again called through the door from the shower as he picked up the pace of rubbing the soap over the redhead's body, causing him to grow more impatient.

"Ow! Stop it, Fanboy!" Kyle shouted, joining the group of yelling people. He quickly pushed Fanboy away, rushing himself under the water in order to rinse away the soap, sighing with relief once the pain had somewhat subsided.

"Oz!"

Oz finally managed to waddle up the stairs, panting from the long walk. He reached his destination at the top of the stairs, looking to his youngest son with chocolate eyes.

"Now, what did you want, Ed, erm, Chum Chum?"

"Zack is raping the new kid in the shower."


	11. Avoiding Confrontation

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

I'm raging so much inside right now. Also, the last chapter sucked ass, so here's another chapter. I'm pissed off and I don't even care, so I'm really sorry if this chapter sucks because of that. Anyway, on with the chapter. Ignore typos and enjoy.

**Chapter Eleven: Avoiding Confrontation**

"Ed, don't be silly," Oz chuckled at the boy's statement, patting Chum Chum's head in a fatherly manner, gesturing for the boy to return to his bedroom once again. "Now, just go to your room."

"But," the brunette whined slightly, folding his arms and pouting as he began to walk back to his bedroom. "Fine."

* * *

><p>Oz knocked on the bathroom door carefully and softly, folding his arms a little as he waited for the door to open. Once the door didn't open, he knocked again, this time deciding to speak to see if he could gain the boys' attention.<p>

"Zack, could you come to the door for a minute?"

"Uh," Fanboy began, looking over his nude body for a moment before peering his head from the shower curtain, looking to the door. He sighed faintly, handing Kyle the bar of soap. "I think you can wash yourself now."

"Zack."

"Hold on, Oz," the raven-haired teen stated, moving out of the shower, wrapping a towel tightly around his waist. He took a deep, calming breath as he reached for the doorknob, turning it carefully and opening the raggedy door. "What?"

The bearded man thought about his words for a moment, trying to peer into the bathroom to see if Kyle was also inside the bathroom. He heard a faint cry of pain emit from the redheaded boy, instantly knowing Kyle was inside the bathroom with Fanboy.

"Why are you showering with, uh, what did you say his name was?"

"His name's Kyle. And, I, um, I just thought that it would take less time. That way Ed could take his shower sooner," Fanboy explained, not wanting to tell Oz about Kyle's many scars, bruises, and lacerations. "That's all."

"Well, you've been in here for quite awhile," the plump man stated with a lisp tagging onto his words. He looked over his son's body, shaking his head faintly at all the faint, self-inflicted scars he saw with his dark, chocolate eyes. He heard Kyle make another small "ouch" and whimper, wondering why the boy was in such distress. "Is there something wrong with Karl?"

"Kyle," Fanboy corrected in a soft mutter, he looked over to the shower curtain, biting his lower lip slightly. He stood up on his tiptoes to whisper into his father-figure's ear. "Can I talk to you outside for a second?"

"Uh, sure, little dude. About what?"

Fanboy ushered Oz out of the bathroom, now standing in the middle of the hallway at the top of the staircase. The green-eyed teen readjusted the towel around his waist, tightening it slightly to be sure that it was secure and wouldn't fall.

"Kyle, well, he didn't really tell me what happened, but he's covered in more scars and cuts than I am. Most of them look like their infected. I tried to get him to tell me but he wouldn't."

"O-oh," the mustached man's face quickly grew serious. He turned away from his adopted, eldest son. He began to walk a few steps, before looking back to Fanboy. "Zack, I want you and the new kid to come downstairs when you're done with your shower."

* * *

><p>"Get out of the shower, Kyle," the green-eyed boy stated with a stern and serious tone in his voice.<p>

"What? Why? I've just gotten used to the water," Kyle smiled softly as he reached for a bottle of shampoo on the side of the tub. Before he could reach the bottle, Fanboy snatched it away from him, tossing it to the floor carelessly.

"You don't have time for that, just get out already."

The golden-eyed teen scowled slightly at the others' motions. He finally gave a reluctant sigh and stepped out of the shower, placing a dainty foot onto the rug below him. He shuddered softly at the cold air that hit his wet skin. Fanboy noticed the boy's shudders, removing the towel from around his waist and placing it around Kyle's shoulders like a poncho.

"There, now, just hurry up and get dressed."

"Um, Fanboy?" Kyle began, looking to the slightly annoyed teen with soft, golden eyes. "Is there any particular reason why you're in such a hurry?"

* * *

><p>After a few moments, the two boys were fully clothed and ready to head down the stairs. They walked into the hallway from the bathroom, looking down the stairs that intimidated them. Fanboy and Kyle looked back and forth from each other, Kyle still being clueless to what was happening.<p>

"Come on," Fanboy gestured as he began to walk down the staircase, the steps creaking each time he took one. "This shouldn't take too long."

"What is this about?"

"I, um," the taller of the two began, biting his lower lip, not wanting to tell Kyle that he had told about the many scars that were scattered across the redhead's body. "I don't know. Oz just said to meet him downstairs when we got out of the shower."

"Well, okay, I suppose."

* * *

><p>"O-Oz?"<p>

"Ah, Zack, come here please," Oz stated with a stern voice, looking to the boy in his boxers and then to the redheaded boy in the green tee and black boxers. "Bring your friend with you."

The two boys nodded and walked over to the now cleared dinner table where Oz sat, sitting next to him on either side of the table. They looked to each other nervously and then back to Oz with just as much nervousness.

"What's wrong, sir?" Kyle spoke up after a few silent moments, he tapped his fingers together out of pure nervous habit.

"Could you stand up for me?" Oz asked in a fatherly tone toward the redhead, who complied with the request swiftly.

The redhead quickly jumped back and flinched as the heavy-set male grabbed onto the hem of his shirt, lifting it slightly, looking over the large, gaping wound.

"Ah! Excuse me, sir! But, what exactly do you think you're doing?" Kyle sternly asked after gasping slightly from the shock. He had a slight look of fear on his face as Oz bent down to take a better look at the wound.

"That's really infected, you should have this checked out, little dude," Oz began, examining Kyle's body closely, looking up slowly until he reached Kyle's neck. "The one on your neck is pretty bad, too. Who did this to you?"

"I... I don't really like to talk about that subject, sir. Now, please, let go of my shirt and leave me be."

"I really need to know who did this to you."

Fanboy thought for a moment before looking to Kyle and Oz, trying to figure a way out of the situation.

"Um, Oz, I'm really tired and I'm sure Kyle is, too. Can't we just go to bed and talk about this in the morning?"


	12. Fanboy Reveals

"**Deadly Connections"**

By: Emily B.

**Author's Note**

Sorry for a long time without updating. I wasn't really in the writing mood. I feel kind of depressed right now and I'm really not sure why. I mean, I'm moving, my surgery is over and I'm fully healed, I've been doing a bunch of stuff on tumblr. So, I really have no reason to be depressed. Oh well, it doesn't matter. On with the chapter. Enjoy and ignore typos. You guys know the drill by now.

**Chapter Twelve: Fanboy Reveals **

"Well," Oz began to speak, being cut off by the sound of footsteps. He glanced to the source of the sound, noticing the two boys trotting up the stairwell and up toward the bedrooms. He sighed and muttered a few unintelligible words under his breath. "Hey, I wasn't finished talking yet."

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><p>"T-thank you, Fanboy," Kyle stuttered out a sign of gratitude, fumbling with his fingers as he entered Fanboy's bedroom.<p>

"You two better not fuck around in there, or else I'm telling Oz," the brunette boy muttered to the two older teen's as he walked by the door of Fanboy's room.

"Shut up, Ed," Fanboy grumbled, moving a hand to the wooden door, shutting it with a slight slam, he turned to Kyle, a faint smile on his face. "No problem. I just figured that you were tired and, well, I'm pretty tired myself."

Kyle smiled lightly as he saw the first smile Fanboy had given all day. He felt a bit of relief as the other didn't snap, though he assumed the raven-haired teen was simply too tired to put up an argument. He moved over to the mattress on the floor, sitting down on the foot of it once again, watching as Fanboy began to take down a few of the multiple pin-ups in the dusty room.

"Why do you even have those _disgusting_ posters in here?"

"What? You don't like boobs?" The taller of the two chuckled, looking to the poster before slowly ripping it in half. "I don't blame you. The girls on these posters must be real skanks."

"Then why do you hav-"

"This is Oz's old room. He, well, let's put it this way; he's not going to get a real girl any time soon and he needs some sort of entertainment."

The redhead cringed with disgust as thoughts entered his mind. He shook them off slightly before returning his gaze to Fanboy, looking over Fanboy's body, once again noticing the boy was topless. He blushed deeply until he noticed something he hadn't taken note to before this moment. He looked over Fanboy's abdomen, noticing raggedy, horizontal scars covering the area from below Fanboy's rib cage to just above Fanboy's boxers.

"F-Fanboy, please tell me that you didn't do, um," Kyle began, gesturing to the scars by pointing at them with his spidery index finger. "Those yourself."

The green-eyed boy's once lightened attitude changed swiftly to it's original one of slight anger. He covered his abdomen with his arms and furrowed his brow. He moved over to his tall dresser, tugging open the drawer where his pajamas were located, being careful not to expose the knives as he rummaged for another shirt.

"Well..." Fanboy muttered, thinking things over in his mind before picking up on Kyle's question fully. "Wait, I don't have to tell you anything. You won't even tell me why you wouldn't eat dinner. Why should I tell you if I cut myself or not?"

"Because," the redhead muttered just as quietly as Fanboy had, standing up and moving over to the dresser, catching a glimpse of a shine. He looked closer at the shine, observing what was causing the it. His golden eyes flickered slightly as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Fanboy's bare, trim frame, hooking his hands together and resting them on Fanboy's abdomen. "Because, I... I want to help you, Fanboy."

"Wha-" the younger teen stated in disbelief at the redhead's words, looking down to the hands around his waist. He hesitantly slid his own hands to rest over Kyle's, ready to move them away if he needed to do so. "I, uh, I don't need your help."

"You have knives in your bloody dresser. I think you do need my help."

"I've had plenty of help. None of it worked. What makes you think that you're so special that you'll be able to help me?"

"Well, could you at least tell me a few things? Just a few. Say, starting with what you'd have to start all over. When we were outside this afternoon, you said you'd have to start all over. I was kind of curious about that."

Fanboy sighed harshly, moving his hands away from Kyle's, letting them drop by his sides. He carefully and swiftly pulled out of the wizard's embrace, moving to sit on his lousy excuse for a bed. He propped his back up against the wall, his spine arching as the pale, exposed skin pressed against the coolness of the wall.

"Fine, but only if you agree to tell me why you wouldn't eat dinner."

The shorter of the two froze for a moment, curiosity getting the best of him as he moved to sit on the foot of the bed once again.

"D-Deal."

With that agreement put into place, the taller of the two began to explain what he'd have to start all over and exactly why he didn't want to start it over. He took in a deep breath and stumbled a little over his words before beginning to explain fluently.

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><p>"<em>Zack, wake up!" A sharp voice called as Fanboy felt a sharp hit to his shoulder, causing a bruise to immediately appear on his arm. He grumbled lightly, ignoring the pain, turning over in the unfamiliar bed. His emerald eyes slowly fluttered open and he looked up to see a large woman standing in front of him. "Get outside with the rest of the vermin."<em>

"_I don't recall your brochure saying anything about calling your patients vermin," Fanboy grumbled under his breath. He sat up in bed, his bare feet dangling over the sides of the uncomfortable bed. He slipped his feet into the slippers that he was forced by the staff to wear, his feet becoming incredibly painful as the shoes were at least two sizes too small. "Ow."_

"_Suck it up, Maggot!" The woman shouted as she leaned down into his face, once again hitting him against the arm. "Now, get outside. And no funny business, I'll have my eyes on you the whole time."_

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><p><em>As Fanboy reached the outside, he moved over to a wall, looking back at the woman who was currently watching him like a hawk. As he noticed the woman turn to yell at some other kid for kicking a ball into the large, barbed fence, he slipped behind a brick wall, sliding down the side of said wall. He sat on the cracked concrete below, counting the small dandelions that grew up from the cracks. He counted a total of five before large shadows caught his attention.<em>

"_Hey! I'm trying to coun-" Fanboy shouted until he looked up, seeing a hefty-set girl and a rather slender, Asian girl standing in front of him. Both girls were wearing skirts and had their hands formed into fists._

"_Well," the Asian female, who we'll call Yo, giggled in a high pitched squeak. She tapped her finger cutely to her chin as she stood up on one foot for a moment. "Look what the cat dragged in this time."_

"_What are you in for?" Lupe, the other female in the small group, smirked as she looked over Fanboy's exposed arms, as he was forced to wear a short sleeved shirt. "Oh, a cutter, huh? Well, we know exactly what to do with your kind around here."_

_Fanboy's emerald eyes looked on with confusion as he leaned further against the wall, the two girls stepping closer to him. He felt a sense of urgency and fear coarse through his body._

"_W-what do you mean? Aren't you guys in for the same thing?"_

"_Aha," Yo giggled once again, stamping her feet against the concrete with excitement. "Of course not. You're the first cutter in weeks."_

_Lupe grabbed forcefully onto Fanboy's jaw, nearly snapping his neck as she turned it, pointing the boy's head in the direction of a tall swing set. _

"_You see those stains on top of the swing set? That's what happened to the last cutter we had around here. Sent him home in an ambulance. So much fun was had that day."_

"_W-why would you do that? All he did was cut himself to escape the pain and pressure of-"_

"_How about we go swinging, Cutter," Yo smiled and giggled as she cut off the boy's grumble, grabbing tightly onto Fanboy's wrists, pulling him up from the ground, spinning him around in a sort of dance. She danced and waltzed him over to the oversized swing set, forcing him down into one of the swings. She glanced over to Lupe with bright hazel eyes. "Hey, Lupe, did you steal those shoe laces from the nurse's office?"_

"_Aye," Lupe smirked in agreement to Yo's question. She rummaged around in the pocket of her skirt and pulled out two sets of long, white shoe laces. She passed them to the raven-haired girl and moved to hold Fanboy's wrists to the chains of the swing. Fanboy's wrists squirmed as the death grip clamped around them, trying to break free._

"_Hey! Let go!"_

"_Hold still, Sweetie," the bubbly girl chimed, tying Fanboy's wrists tightly to the chains with the shoe laces. She tightened them until the boy's hands became paralyzed from lack of circulation. "There we go. Lupe you know what to do."_

_Lupe chuckled, ushering herself behind the swing that the fifteen-year-old male was sitting in and pulled him back a good distance. She let go of the swing, causing it to catapult high into the air thanks to her great strength. Fanboy's emerald eyes flew wide with fear as he desperately tried to stop the swing._

"_No! Stop! W-why are you doing this?"_

"_Because, you're a freak," Yo pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone of voice._

_The heftier of the two girls on the scene continued to push the swing, forcing it higher and higher until BAM!_

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><p>"I woke up in the hospital a few days later. I don't remember much after that, but I do know that I sure as hell am not going back to that place. I'd rather die."<p>

Kyle's golden eyes were slightly glazed over as he listened tentatively to the story the raven-haired teen was telling.

"S-so, you were in a coma?"

"Well, I woke up with staples in my head."

"Oh, that's... that's terrible. They didn't have a legitimate reason to do that to you."

Fanboy shrugged slightly, looking to the floor for a moment before returning his emerald eyes back to Kyle. He sat up a bit more against the wall, folding his arms.

"Okay, you're turn. Why weren't you eating dinner tonight?"


	13. Author's Note

**Hey everyone,**

**Just letting you all know that I have moved accounts for awhile. Please search "EmmySkulls" and read my new stories. Thank you.**


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